Dataset Information

Cell line authentication: a necessity for reproducible biomedical research.

ABSTRACT: Immortalized or continuous cell lines are invaluable tools in basic and preclinical research. However, the widespread use of misidentified cell lines is a serious threat to scientific reproducibility. Based on the experiences of mandatory cell line authentication at the International Journal of Cancer (IJC), we provide an overview of the issues pertinent to misidentified cell lines and discuss available solutions. We also summarize the lessons learned, revealing that at least 5% of the human cell lines used in manuscripts considered for peer review are misidentified. About 4% of the considered manuscripts are rejected for severe cell line problems, and most are subsequently published in other journals. In order to diminish such malpractice and its consequences for the scientific record, we postulate that strict multi-layered quality control is essential. Besides journals and publishers, we encourage scientists, research institutions, and funders to take action on the matter and revise their respective policies. Hence, we provide concrete recommendations on introducing regular authentication schemes and staff training, and discuss future steps for enhancing good cell culture practices.

SUBMITTER: Souren NY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9289526 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cell line authentication: a necessity for reproducible biomedical research.

Souren Nicole Y NY Fusenig Norbert E NE Heck Stefanie S Dirks Wilhelm G WG Capes-Davis Amanda A Bianchini Franca F Plass Christoph C

The EMBO journal 20220627 14

Immortalized or continuous cell lines are invaluable tools in basic and preclinical research. However, the widespread use of misidentified cell lines is a serious threat to scientific reproducibility. Based on the experiences of mandatory cell line authentication at the International Journal of Cancer (IJC), we provide an overview of the issues pertinent to misidentified cell lines and discuss available solutions. We also summarize the lessons learned, revealing that at least 5% of the human cel ...[more]

PMID: 35758134

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Project description:Currently, there is a growing interest in ensuring the transparency and reproducibility of the published scientific literature. According to a previous evaluation of 441 biomedical journals articles published in 2000-2014, the biomedical literature largely lacked transparency in important dimensions. Here, we surveyed a random sample of 149 biomedical articles published between 2015 and 2017 and determined the proportion reporting sources of public and/or private funding and conflicts of interests, sharing protocols and raw data, and undergoing rigorous independent replication and reproducibility checks. We also investigated what can be learned about reproducibility and transparency indicators from open access data provided on PubMed. The majority of the 149 studies disclosed some information regarding funding (103, 69.1% [95% confidence interval, 61.0% to 76.3%]) or conflicts of interest (97, 65.1% [56.8% to 72.6%]). Among the 104 articles with empirical data in which protocols or data sharing would be pertinent, 19 (18.3% [11.6% to 27.3%]) discussed publicly available data; only one (1.0% [0.1% to 6.0%]) included a link to a full study protocol. Among the 97 articles in which replication in studies with different data would be pertinent, there were five replication efforts (5.2% [1.9% to 12.2%]). Although clinical trial identification numbers and funding details were often provided on PubMed, only two of the articles without a full text article in PubMed Central that discussed publicly available data at the full text level also contained information related to data sharing on PubMed; none had a conflicts of interest statement on PubMed. Our evaluation suggests that although there have been improvements over the last few years in certain key indicators of reproducibility and transparency, opportunities exist to improve reproducible research practices across the biomedical literature and to make features related to reproducibility more readily visible in PubMed.

Dataset Information

Cell line authentication: a necessity for reproducible biomedical research.

Publications

Cell line authentication: a necessity for reproducible biomedical research.

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