Radiation Sensitivity Testing of Cultured Eukaryotic Cells
Robert A. Greenwald in CRC Handbook of Methods for Oxygen Radical Research, 2018
Most experiments have been done with established cell lines. These lines are easy to grow and easy to irradiate. Cell lines can be grown either in suspension or monolayer cultures, depending on the cell types used. However, there is a disadvantage in that they are dividing cells; they will continue to replicate as long as nutritional conditions are adequate. Thus, regardless of what results are obtained, an attempt must be made to separate the effects of cell division from those of cell death. A second disadvantage of a cell line is that these cells are really not normal cells. They are immortal (possess unlimited proliferative potential) and thus have progressed part of the way towards malignancy. We have found that cell lines have no Mn SOD, whereas mortal cells (cells with finite lifespans) possess this enzyme.4 Thus, the antioxidant status of cell lines appear to be altered.
Laboratory techniques to study the cellular and molecular processes of disorders
Louis-Philippe Boulet in Applied Respiratory Pathophysiology, 2017
Cellular models are useful for studying the physiopathology of respiratory diseases and they are described in great detail in Chapter 5. Both commercially available systems of cellular and animal model or in-house cell lines are used in research. Among popular commercially available cell lines are the HeLa cells. They are immortal cells originally isolated from Henrietta Lacks' tumor samples, hence the name of the cells. Because HeLa cells proliferate rapidly, they shorten the study time. Alternatively, cells can be isolated from tissue samples, cultured and become “primary” cell lines. Unlike immortalized cell lines, primary cells are mortal and undergo an aging process. Primary cell lines can be immortalized by transforming cells with an oncogenic agent so that the cells divide perpetually. However, the cell immortalization process modifies the cell phenotype and may no longer be relevant to in vivo application. Generally, research in asthma either uses in-house primary cell lines or purchase commercially available primary cell lines.
3D models as tools for inhaled drug development
Anthony J. Hickey, Heidi M. Mansour in Inhalation Aerosols, 2019
The most basic form of 2D culture model involves culture of a single cell type. The European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures (ECACC) and the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) contain thousands of cell lines representative of a range of tissue types and genetic disorders (3,4). An advantage of cell lines in basic research is that, unlike patient- or animal-derived primary cells, the production of steadily proliferating and phenotypically stable cells is standardized, which in turn facilitates consistency in assay design and a subsequent improvement in comparison between respiratory drug candidates (2). They are also more readily available than donor primary cells, facilitating larger sample sizes and a greater range of test groups. Therefore, cell lines are an important tool in testing a new or repurposed drug, in assessing how cells respond to a new system, or in answering basic biological questions of cell function or disease states.
A review of co-culture models to study the oral microenvironment and disease
Published in Journal of Oral Microbiology, 2020
Sophie E Mountcastle, Sophie C Cox, Rachel L Sammons, Sara Jabbari, Richard M Shelton, Sarah A Kuehne
A key factor to consider when using a co-culture system containing eukaryotic cells is their origin. A range of cell types have been used in the studies described, including primary human gingival epithelial cells [16,24–26] and fibroblasts [33,34], immortalised human gingival cell lines [18], oral carcinoma cell lines [15,17,22,23,26], and skin keratinocyte cell lines [27,29,30]. Some studies did not take the source of their human cells into account when discussing their findings. However, oral keratinocytes and fibroblasts show distinct characteristics to those derived from the skin [36,37]. In addition, whilst cell lines are a convenient choice for these in vitro systems as they are highly proliferative and easier to culture, they often have phenotypic, morphological, and genetic differences to their primary tissue origin. Primary cells, on the other hand, maintain many of the markers and functions seen in vivo and are therefore useful for elucidating responses from human cells when challenged with oral pathogenic bacteria.
Discovery of a potential biomarker for immunotherapy of melanoma: PLAC1 as an emerging target
Published in Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, 2020
Ahmad-Reza Mahmoudi, Roya Ghods, Azadeh Rakhshan, Zahra Madjd, Mohammad-Reza Bolouri, Jafar Mahmoudian, Shaghayegh Rahdan, Mohammad-Reza Shokri, Shima Dorafshan, Mehdi Shekarabi, Amir-Hassan Zarnani
Next, we tested the expression of PLAC1 in two human melanoma cell lines. We observed that, in total about 40% and 80% of A-375 and A-2058 cells expressed PLAC1, respectively; which was obviously lower that 100% expression observed in melanoma tissues. Cell lines are surrogates for tissues and often considered as an indispensable tool in biomedical research. Nonetheless, there are fundamental cellular and transcriptomic differences between cell lines and their tissues of origin. Cell cycle genes and transcription factor regulatory networks are differentially expressed in cell lines compared to their tissue of origin [45]. In case of breast cancer, for instance, although there are similarities between breast cancer tumors and cell lines, the existence of the dissimilarity of molecular features should be considered [46]. In an elegant study comparing gene expression profiles of 60 cell lines, derived from nine different tissues, and their corresponding in vivo tumors, Sandburg et al reported that cell lines expressed few tissue-specific (2%) or tumor-specific (5%) genes [47]. In this regard, it seems that cell lines mirror only some of the molecular signature of the primary tumors.
Developing models of cholangiocarcinoma to close the translational gap in cancer research
Published in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 2021
Scott H. Waddell, Luke Boulter
Tumor heterogeneity among patients makes modeling CCA exceptionally difficult, and the same issue occurs with CCA cell lines. Cell lines are normally derived from a single site from one patient, and therefore only represent the genetic complexity of that sample or biopsy core. Initial studies of CCA in vitro utilized immortalized cell lines, such as the human line HChol-Y1 and rat line BDE1-Neu [36–38]. While being easy to manipulate, cell lines are simple tools that do not represent cellular physiology (normal nor diseased) in vivo due to a lack of bona fide extracellular interactions and being homogeneous in cell-type. To overcome these limitations, cancer studies have moved to animal models and more sophisticated cell culture systems, namely organoid cultures, to address whether new therapies show promise in reducing CCA growth.