title: Kaposi's sarcoma-derived cell line SLK is not of endothelial origin, but is a contaminant from a known renal carcinoma cell line.
abstract: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an endothelial cell-derived tumor. Investigations of the molecular mechanisms of KS pathogenesis and the identification of drugs for treatment of KS depend critically on valid cell-culture models. Two major immortalized cell lines are available for KS research. Recently, the KS cell line KS Y-1 has been shown to be cross-contaminated with the T24 urinary bladder cancer cell line (ATCC HTB-4). Here, we show by short tandem repeat profiling that the second KS cell line, SLK, is indistinguishable from the clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma cell line Caki-1. Immunocytochemical detection of cytokeratin expression confirmed the epithelial-cell origin of SLK cells. Our findings indicate that SLK cells are not of endothelial origin and should not be used in future studies as a model for KS-derived endothelial tumor cells. We suggest that in the future, more attention needs to be paid to the authenticity of cells in lines derived from human tissues.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular and Experimental Surgery, Clinical Center Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany. michael.stuerzl@uk-erlangen.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stürzl
authors.forename: Dominika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaus
authors.forename: Wilhelm G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Dirks
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ganem
authors.forename: Ramona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jochmann
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000473:pathology*