Results from a study published in Science Translational Medicine show that the publicly available cell line U87MG does not originate from the cell line it is claimed to do. The original cell line was established in Uppsala almost fifty years ago. Using genetic analyses, Bengt Westermark at Uppsala University/SciLifeLab and colleagues could show that U87MG actually had a different, unknown origin.
“We don’t know at which point during the fifty years of culturing the mix-up occurred but we have been able to show that the U87MG line is most likely from a human glioma tumor”, says Bengt Westermark.