Immortality of cell lines: challenges and advantages of establishment

Abstract

Cellular immortality happens upon impairment of cell-cycle checkpoint pathways (p53/p16/pRb), reactivation or up-regulation of telomerase enzyme, or upregulation of some oncogenes or oncoproteins leading to a higher rate of cell division.There are also some other factors and mechanisms involved in immortalisation, which need to be discovered. Immortalisation of cells derived from different sources and establishment of immortal cell lines has proven useful in understanding the molecular pathways governing cell developmental cascades in eukaryotic, especially human, cells. After the breakthrough of achieving the immortal cells and understanding their critical importance in the field of molecular biology, intense efforts have been dedicated to establish cell lines useful for elucidating the functions of telomerase, developmental lineage of progenitors, self-renewal potency, cellular transformation, differentiation patterns and some bioprocesses, like odontogenesis. Meanwhile, discovering the exact mechanisms of immortality, a major challenge for science yet, is believed to open new gateways toward understanding and treatment of cancer in the long term. This review summarises the methods involved in establishing immortality, its advantages and the challenges still being faced in this field.

Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells in cancer research and precision oncology

“…Conventional cell lines represent fully transformed and mostly aggressive cancer cells from advanced-stage cancers, derived either spontaneously through selection for rapid growth in culture or through exogenous expression of viral or mammalian oncogenes 113 . By contrast, the immortalization of iPSCs is not conferred by transformation but instead by the induction of pluripotency.…”

Theoretical Basis of Plant Cell and Tissue Culture for Production of Biomass and Bioactive Compounds

“…In contrast, in the heterochromatin portion, transposable elements, major mutagenic factors, become highly activated after DNA demethylation [ 93 ]. It is evident that better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate plant epigenetics would provide the foundations to establish tissue culture techniques to induce immortalization in plant cells, as those routinely employed for immortalization of animal cells [ 94 ].…”

A critical review of cell culture strategies for modelling intracortical brain implant material reactions

“…Non-neural, single cell type models usually comprise of immortalized cell strains, which offer a high degree of control, ease of use and experimental repeatability. Cell strains may be derived from carcinomas, produced via chemical mutagenesis or DNA transfection [88]; as such these cells can continually divide beyond the limits of normal cells due to their altered genetics [85]. Immortalized cell strains provide a genetically homogenous population of cells over multiple passages, and can be cryogenically stored with minimal alterations to their genotype, when stored and cultured according recommended guidelines [85].…”