Cell-based Research

Closing in on a Dengue Fever Treatment

Researchers have reported that the Dengue virus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) directly impaired endothelial cell monolayer integrity in an in vitro model of leak, and that a toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) antagonist inhibited vascular leak in vivo. Their article, titled "Dengue virus NS1 protein activates cells via Toll-like receptor 4 and disrupts endothelial cell monolayer integrity," was published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, on 9 September 2015. The studies were conducted in the University of Queensland's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (UQ SCMB; Brisbane, QLD, AU) and the Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre (AID; Brisbane, QLD, AU), and made use of bone marrow-derived macrophages, HEK-293 cells, and human microvasculature endothelial cells (HMEC-1).

To read the article, click here. To read an accompanying article, click here. To read a short 'focus' article by Stephen J. Thomas, which puts the findings from both studies into context, click here.

A Highly Relevant Biobank of Human Glioblastoma Cell Lines

Researchers have demonstrated that the 48 cell lines of The Human Glioblastoma Cell Culture Resource (HGCC) are tumorigenic, harbor genomic lesions characteristic of glioblastomas, and represent all four transcriptional subtypes. Their article, titled "The Human Glioblastoma Cell Culture Resource: Validated Cell Models Representing All Molecular Subtypes," was published online in the journal, EBioMedicine, on 23 August 2015.

To read the article, click here.

Choosing an Appropriate Breast Cancer Cell Line

Researchers have compared the RNA-sequencing transcriptomes of a collection of breast cancer cell lines to transcriptomes obtained from hundreds of tumors using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Their article, titled "Assessing breast cancer cell lines as tumour models by comparison of mRNA expression profiles," was published in the journal, Breast Cancer Research, on 20 August 2015.

To read the article, click here.

Good Cell Culture Practice

NIH Workshop on Reproducibility in Cell Culture Studies

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS; Bethesda, MD, US) will co-host a workshop on reproducibility in cell culture studies from 28 to 29 September 2015. In a NIGMS Feedback Loop Blog post, Dr James Deatherage and Dr Kristine Willis have explained that the workshop will "examine current quality-control challenges in cell culture research and identify opportunities for expanding its capabilities and applications" and that it will be videocast and archived on the National Institute of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD, US) VideoCast site.

To read the blog post, click here. To view the workshop agenda, click here. To access the NIH VideoCast site, click here.

How CellBank Australia Can Help

New Online Shop

CellBank Australia now has its very own online shop. Here researchers can browse and search for information on the more than 1,850 quality-validated cell lines that we distribute in Australia and New Zealand. Researchers who are based in those two countries can then use a secure online checkout to buy cell lines that suit their research purposes.

To take a look around our shop, click here. Please note that to buy cell lines, you'll first need to register and create a profile. This can be done from our shop in around a minute.

 

ComBio2015

CellBank Australia is excited to participate as an exhibitor at Combio2015.

ComBio2015, which incorporates the annual meetings of a number of Australian and New Zealand Societies, is being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Melbourne, VIC, AU) from 27 September to 1 October 2015.

If you'll be at ComBio2015, please do stop by our booth to see me. I'm very keen to learn about your specific cell culture needs. I'd also be happy to discuss the findings of our Australian and New Zealand survey of cell culture practice with you. To read our article, click here.