I have several flasks of HeLa cells that have recently begun taking on an altered morphology. I do not know whether it is due to some type of contamination or the result of a mutation of some kind. Can anyone identify whats happening here?
I am growing cells in MEM+10%FBS w/ 0.5% pen/strep. All fluids have been filtered with 2 micron stericups.
What is the passage number on the cells?
Have you tested for mycoplasma contamination?
I would definitely lean towards contamination rather than a spontaneous mutation of some sort.
These cells have probably been passaged several dozen times. What effect would passaging have on an immortal cell line that's been expanding for 50+ years already? Excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new at cell culture.
I have no tested for mycoplasma, I have Plasmocin prophylactic (that hasn't been used) but not a treatment. I have plenty of cells frozen back. I am considering purging what I have, doing a good clean-up then restarting.
Science is one big journey, everyone is 'ignorant' in this field.
Sure, immortalized cell lines can proliferate indefinitely, but their genotype and phenotype can change over time/passage. You might want to karyotype your stock of cells, or some sort of profile.
In your case, I would definitely purge this colony, test your stock of cells, and start fresh. Keep a good tab of morphology over time, as well as the passage number. These are both important when it comes to addressing this issue in the future.
Good luck!
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Cell Biology