title: Mycoplasma Infection Alters Cancer Stem Cell Properties in Vitro.
abstract: Cancer cell lines can be useful to model cancer stem cells. Infection with Mycoplasma species is an insidious problem in mammalian cell culture. While investigating stem-like properties in early passage melanoma cell lines, we noted poorly reproducible results from an aliquot of a cell line that was later found to be infected with Mycoplasma hyorhinis. Deliberate infection of other early passage melanoma cell lines aliquots induced variable and unpredictable effects on expression of putative cancer stem cell markers, clonogenicity, proliferation and global gene expression. Cell lines established in stem cell media (SCM) were equally susceptible. Mycoplasma status is rarely reported in publications using cultured cells to study the cancer stem cell hypothesis. Our work highlights the importance of surveillance for Mycoplasma infection while using any cultured cells to interrogate tumor heterogeneity.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.|University of Newcastle, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, 2305, Australia.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1629-4352
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gedye
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.|School of Cancer Medicine, LaTrobe University, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Level 5, Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre, Austin Health, 145-163 Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cardwell
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Nektaria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Bee Shin
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Svobodová
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anaka
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.|School of Cancer Medicine, LaTrobe University, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Level 5, Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre, Austin Health, 145-163 Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Behren
authors.affiliation: South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa.|Washington University Genome Institute, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa.|Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, SPH2, 4th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.affiliation: South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa.|Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, SPH2, 4th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Winston
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hide
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, New York Branch at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
authors.forename: Otavia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.|Eastern Health Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, and Eastern Health, Box Hill Hospital, 5 Arnold St, Box Hill, VIC, 3128, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia. jonathan.cebon@onjcri.org.au.|School of Cancer Medicine, LaTrobe University, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Level 5, Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre, Austin Health, 145-163 Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia. jonathan.cebon@onjcri.org.au.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cebon
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000592:standards; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D045790:Mycoplasma hyorhinis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D061251:Primary Cell Culture; D011786:Quality Control; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Cancer cell lines, CD133; Cancer stem cells; Mycoplasma