DNA Profiling of Cell Lines

DNA profiling of cell lines is a powerful tool used to demonstrate continuity between master and working cell banks, or between source material and derived cell lines, and toidentify contamination of cell lines. ECACC offers two DNA profiling methods as part of the Cell Line Verification Service:

Microsatellite Genotyping

A quick and powerful tool for the verification of human cell lines only. ECACC uses SGM Plus®, a semi-automated system for DNA profiling which amplifies ten highly informative short tandem repeat (STR) loci plus the gender marker Amelogenin. These afford, on average, a 1 in 5 trillion probability of identity, producing a unique profile that can be compared with those held on ECACC's database.

Multi-locus DNA Fingerprinting

Microsatellite genotyping is unsuitable for cell lines of non-human origin. Therefore ECACC also offers multi-locus DNA fingerprinting, which uses Southern blotting to produce a complex banding pattern unique to a particular cell line which can be compared to ECACC's extensive fingerprint library. This technique is suitable for most non-human species

Note: DNA profiling in itself only confirms the continuity of a cell line, it does not speciate cells. At ECACC such characterization is achieved by isoenzyme analysis and is usually carried out in conjunction with DNA profiling to fully authenticate cells.