CellBank Australia releases a checklist for Manuscripts and Grant Applications

In line with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principles and Guidelines for Reporting Preclinical Research (2014) which are now endorsed by at least 80 Journals and Associations, as well as Funding bodies (NHMRC), CellBank Australia has released a simple checklist for Manuscripts and Grant Applications, based on the ICLAC Cell Line Checklist.

The checklist is part of a brochure now available for download that gives information on testing cell lines for publication.

Download: Why should you test your Cell Line?

Recommended guidelines for improving the validity and reproducibility of preclinical research include reporting the authentication, mycoplasma contamination status and source of cell lines.

Mycoplasma contamination and cross-contamination of cell lines are common issues in cell culture. While their incidence can be minimised through good cell culture practice, it remains important for researchers to regularly test their cell lines.

Mycoplasma contamination can significantly affect the properties of a cell line, including changes in gene activity. As contamination is difficult to see with a microscope, specific testing is required for its detection.

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is used as a consensus test method for the authentication of human cell lines. It allows researchers to compare their cell lines to tissue or DNA from the original donor or to other cell lines to determine whether their sample is authentic or misidentified.

For non-human cell lines, DNA barcoding is increasingly used for species detection and is a new consensus approach for cell lines.