Jurkat cells

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Jurkat cells are an immortalized line of human T lymphocyte cells that are used to study acute T cell leukemia, T cell signaling, and the expression of various chemokine receptors susceptible to viral entry, particularly HIV. [1] Jurkat cells can, upon stimulation by phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or other stimulants such as phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA or simply phorbol), express interleukin 2, and are used in research involving the susceptibility of cancers to drugs and radiation. However in the general case chronic phytohaemagglutinin kills Jurkat cells, though Jurkat clones can be devised which resist PHA-induced killing. The object of the system is that Jurkat cells can react to a signal and their expression can be measured. Jurkat cells with elements missing or knocked out can then provide a basis for examining the importance of that element on the expression of interleukin 2.

Contents

History

The Jurkat cell line (originally called JM) was established in the mid-1970s from the peripheral blood of a 14-year-old boy with T cell leukemia. [2] [3] Different derivatives of the Jurkat cell line that have been mutated to lack certain genes can now be obtained from cell culture banks. [4]

Examples of derivatives

Cell line contamination

Jurkat E6-1 cells have been found to produce a xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV) (referred to as XMRV) that could potentially affect experimental outcomes. There is no evidence that this virus can infect humans. This infection may also change the virulence and tropism of the virus by way of phenotypic mixing and/or recombination. [5]

References

  1. Abraham, Robert; Weiss, Arthur (2004). "Jurkat T cells and development of the T-cell receptor signalling paradigm". Nature. 4 (4): 301–308. doi:10.1038/nri1330. PMID   15057788. S2CID   13253575.
  2. Schwenk, Hans-Ulrich; Schneider, Ulrich (1975). "Cell cycle dependency of a T-cell marker on lymphoblasts" . Blut Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Blutforschung. 31 (5): 299–306. doi:10.1007/BF01634146. ISSN   0006-5242. PMID   1103999. S2CID   19920627.
  3. Schneider U, Schwenk H, Bornkamm G (1977). "Characterization of EBV-genome negative "null" and "T" cell lines derived from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and leukemic transformed non-Hodgkin lymphoma". Int J Cancer. 19 (5): 621–6. doi:10.1002/ijc.2910190505. PMID   68013. S2CID   23684046.
  4. American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)
  5. Takeuchi, Y; McClure, MO; Pizzato, M (Dec 2008). "Identification of Gammaretroviruses Constitutively Released from Cell Lines Used for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Research". Journal of Virology. 82 (24): 12585–12588. doi:10.1128/JVI.01726-08. PMC   2593302 . PMID   18842727.