Fusenig Norbert E, Capes-Davis Amanda, Bianchini Franca, Sundell Sherryl, Lichter Peter
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
CellBank Australia, Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
PLoS Biol. 2017 Apr 17;15(4):e2001438. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001438. eCollection 2017 Apr.
Cell lines are used in life science research worldwide as biological surrogates. All cell lines are subject to major limitations when used as research tools, including (i) cross-contamination with other cells cultured in the same laboratory environment and (ii) evolution in vitro that renders a given cell line inappropriate as a surrogate for a specific biological hypothesis. There is ample evidence that cross-contamination or phenotypic drift of cells in culture can generate irreproducible or misleading data. A small number of scientific journals-the International Journal of Cancer being at the forefront-and funding agencies have recently moved forward to ask for obligatory cell line authentication data. The history of implementing such rules by the International Journal of Cancer exemplifies the difficulties encountered when installing mandatory quality measures in life sciences.
细胞系作为生物替代物在全球生命科学研究中被广泛使用。当用作研究工具时，所有细胞系都存在重大局限性，包括：（i）与在同一实验室环境中培养的其他细胞发生交叉污染；（ii）在体外发生进化，导致特定细胞系不适用于特定生物学假设的替代物。有充分证据表明，培养中的细胞发生交叉污染或表型漂移会产生不可重复或误导性的数据。少数科学期刊——《国际癌症杂志》首当其冲——以及资助机构最近已要求提供强制性的细胞系鉴定数据。《国际癌症杂志》实施此类规定的历史体现了在生命科学中推行强制性质量措施时所遇到的困难。
