Journal of Forensic Research

STR Profiling of Human Cell Lines: Challenges and Possible Solutions to the Growing Problem

Abstract

Rixun Fang, Jaiprakash G. Shewale, Vivian T. Nguyen, Holly Cardoso, Mavis Swerdel, Ronald P.Hart and Manohar R. Furtado

Genomic DNA preparations from 60 human cell lines from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), 48 human cell lines from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and 19 embryonic cell lines were profiled for autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci using the AmpFÃ?¢Ã?â??Ã?â??STR ® Identifiler ® kit. Each DNA sample was profiled at least twice to ensure consistency and reproducibility of results. The resulting STR profiles were compared with the STR profiles in the database of ATCC. The allele calls for the common loci between the Identifiler ® kit and the database were identical except for one DNA sample, which we attribute to amplification artifacts. We have observed a high percentage of the STR loci exhibiting allelic imbalance. Certain STR loci for some cell lines exhibited 3 or more alleles. This type of observation can result from a unique profile for a given cell line or as the result of clonotypic heterozygosity and is not necessarily due to contamination. Our study demonstrates that STR based technologies are useful for cell line authentication applications. These data, combined with data from other researchers, will enable the development of a standard genotyping protocol for cell line authentication.