Quote of the Week: Cell Line Selection

I was asked this week about choosing a cell line appropriate to a specific assay. 

One thing to think about is the biology of the cells. Ask yourself, Does the cell line have the characteristics necessary for the topic I want to address? Express the right genes (or can I add them)? Respond to the stimulus? 

But practical concerns are also important. Although S2 is a popular choice for screens at the DRSC, the choice for an imaging screen is often S2R+, as these cells tend to adhere better to the bottom of the plate, an important feature for automated imaging at 384-well format.

Today's quote is from Section 1.1., Identifying a Suitable Cell Line, in B. Baum & L. Cherbas (2007) Drosophila Cell Lines as Model Systems and as an Experimental Tool.  In Drosophila: Methods & Protocols. C. Dahmann, Ed. Methods in Molecular Biology series Vol. 420. ISBN: 978-1-58829-817-1.

More than 100 cell lines have been established from Drosophila embryos and larvae over the last 40 yr. The first of these, including the commonly used S2 and Kc lines (10–12), were generated from spontaneously immortalized cells in cultures of mechanically dissociated embryos. In subsequent years, similar methods were used to derive cell lines from the early embryos of genetically defined fly stocks (11,13–15). Interestingly, these embryonic lines all share characteristics that suggest that they are derived from immortalized hematopoietic cells. This idea is supported by the similarities of these lines to mbn-2 and mbn 3 lines that were established from primary cultures of mutant embryos carrying blood cell tumors (16). Furthermore, the S2R+ cell line, an isolate of the S2 cell line (17), bears a striking resemblance in form and behavior to larval hemocytes isolated by bleeding larvae.

Please see the full chapter for reference citations.