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Cellosaurus WI-38 (CVCL_0579)

[Text version]
Cell line name WI-38
Synonyms Wi-38; WI 38; WI38; Wistar Institute-38; AG06814E; AG06814G; AG06814H; AG06814-J; AG06814J; AG06814-M; AG06814-N
Accession CVCL_0579
Resource Identification Initiative To cite this cell line use: WI-38 (RRID:CVCL_0579)
Comments Group: Space-flown cell line (cellonaut).
Group: Vaccine production cell line.
Part of: Naval Biosciences Laboratory (NBL) collection (transferred to ATCC in 1982).
Population: Caucasian; Swedish.
Biotechnology: Used for the production of RA27/3 - the first rubella virus vaccine.
Biotechnology: Used for the production of live oral adenovirus type 4 and type 7 vaccine used by the US military. Produced first by Wyeth Laboratories from 1971 to 1999 and from 2011 onward by Barr Pharmaceuticals.
Biotechnology: Was used in the early 1970's for the production of the Human Diploid Cell Vaccine (HDCV) vaccine against rabies by Institut Merieux.
Characteristics: Used in many context such as senescence and aging studies.
Senescence: Life expectancy of 50 +- 10 population doublings. Senesces at 38 PDL (PubMed=17395773).
Doubling time: ~24 hours (ATCC=CCL-75; ECACC=90020107).
Omics: CTCF ChIP-seq epigenome analysis.
Omics: miRNA expression profiling.
Omics: SNP array analysis.
Omics: Transcriptome analysis by microarray.
Anecdotal: Hayflick when numbering diploid cell strains 'jumped' directly from WI-27 (which failed) to WI-38 (CelloPub=CLPUB00391).
Anecdotal: Have been flown in space on Skylab-3 to study growth in microgravity (PubMed=352912).
Derived from site: In situ; Fetal lung; UBERON=UBERON_0005597.
Cell type: Fibroblast of lung; CL=CL_0002553.
Species of origin Homo sapiens (Human) (NCBI Taxonomy: 9606)
Hierarchy Children:
CVCL_1R80 (GM08854)CVCL_1R88 (GM10322)CVCL_1R89 (GM10323)
CVCL_3142 (PSV811)CVCL_7871 (UTHs)CVCL_YU09 (WI-38 (HSV-2)Tr)
CVCL_L281 (WI-38 CT-1)CVCL_5605 (WI-38 Tr)CVCL_2759 (WI-38 VA13 subline 2RA)
CVCL_2812 (WI-38-30)CVCL_2813 (WI-38-40)CVCL_N806 (WI-38/hTERT/GFP-RAF-ER)
CVCL_A5BN (WIF12)
Sex of cell Female
Age at sampling 16FW
Category Finite cell line
STR profile Source(s): AddexBio=T0016037/5007; ATCC=CCL-75; CCRID; ECACC=90020107; JCRB=IFO50075; JCRB=JCRB9017; RCB=RCB0702; RCB=RCB0704; Technion Genomics Center

Markers:
AmelogeninX
CSF1PO10,12
D1S165611,18.3
D2S44111
D2S133819,25
D3S135816,17
D5S81810
D7S8209,11
D8S117914
D10S124813,15
D12S39121,23
D13S31711
D16S53911,12
D18S5116,18
D19S43313,16.2
D21S1130,30.2
D22S104511,17
FGA22,24
Penta D13
Penta E13,14
TH018,9.3
TPOX8
vWA19,20

Run an STR similarity search on this cell line
Web pages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WI-38
https://www.ascb.org/activation-energy/the-story-of-wi-38-the-other-famous-cell-line/
http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10637
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/03/the_woman_whose_aborted_fetus_helped_create_the_rubella_vaccine.html
http://www.aginginterventionfoundation.org/BookReview2.pdf
Publications

PubMed=14064953; DOI=10.1164/arrd.1963.88.3P2.387
Hayflick L.
A comparison of primary monkey kidney, heteroploid cell lines, and human diploid cell strains for human virus vaccine preparation.
Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 88 Suppl. 3:387-393(1963)

PubMed=14218592; DOI=10.4049/jimmunol.93.3.353
Wiktor T.J., Fernandes M.V., Koprowski H.
Cultivation of rabies virus in human diploid cell strain WI-38.
J. Immunol. 93:353-366(1964)

PubMed=5834207; DOI=10.1001/archpedi.1965.02090030401007
Plotkin S.A., Cornfeld D., Ingalls T.H.
Studies of immunization with living rubella virus. Trials in children with a strain cultured from an aborted fetus.
Am. J. Dis. Child. 110:381-389(1965)

PubMed=14315085; DOI=10.1016/0014-4827(65)90211-9
Hayflick L.
The limited in vitro lifetime of human diploid cell strains.
Exp. Cell Res. 37:614-636(1965)

PubMed=5956336; DOI=10.1038/210100a0
Jacobs J.P.
A simple medium for the propagation and maintenance of human diploid cell strains.
Nature 210:100-101(1966)

PubMed=5668122; DOI=10.3181/00379727-128-33119
Peterson W.D. Jr., Stulberg C.S., Swanborg N.K., Robinson A.R.
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in human cell cultures determined by sucrose-agar gel and cellulose acetate zymograms.
Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 128:772-776(1968)

PubMed=5347639; DOI=10.1016/0014-4827(69)90166-9
Stanbridge E.J., Onen M., Perkins F.T., Hayflick L.
Karyological and morphological characteristics of human diploid cell strain WI-38 infected with mycoplasmas.
Exp. Cell Res. 57:397-410(1969)

PubMed=5801069; DOI=10.1016/0027-5107(69)90054-2
Staiger G.R.
Chlordiazepoxide and diazepam: absence of effects on the chromosomes of diploid human fibroblast cells.
Mutat. Res. 7:109-115(1969)

DOI=10.1007/BF02618370
Stulberg C.S., Coriell L.L., Kniazeff A.J., Shannon J.E.
The animal cell culture collection.
In Vitro 5:1-16(1970)

PubMed=4329447; DOI=10.1084/jem.133.3.454; PMCID=PMC2138946
Giraldo G., Beth-Giraldo E., Hirshaut Y., Aoki T., Old L.J., Boyse E.A., Chopra H.C.
Human sarcomas in culture. Foci of altered cells and a common antigen; induction of foci and antigen in human fibroblast cultures by filtrates.
J. Exp. Med. 133:454-478(1971)

PubMed=4695793; DOI=10.1007/BF02619060
Kadanka Z., Sparkes J.D., Macmorine H.G.
A study of the cytogenetics of the human cell strain WI-38.
In Vitro 8:353-361(1973)

PubMed=4203458
Petricciani J.C., Wallace R.E., McCoy D.W.
A comparison of three in vivo assays for cell tumorigenicity.
Cancer Res. 34:105-108(1974)

PubMed=4817727; DOI=10.1016/0014-4827(74)90416-9
Dell'Orco R.T., Mertens J.G., Kruse P.F. Jr.
Doubling potential, calendar time, and donor age of human diploid cells in culture.
Exp. Cell Res. 84:363-366(1974)

PubMed=1031681
Jacobs J.P.
Updated results on the karyology of the WI-38, MRC-5 and MRC-9 cell strains.
Dev. Biol. Stand. 37:155-156(1976)

PubMed=17792436; DOI=10.1126/science.192.4235.125
Wade N.
Hayflick's tragedy: the rise and fall of a human cell line.
Science 192:125-127(1976)

PubMed=211143; DOI=10.1128/jcm.7.4.368-371.1978; PMCID=PMC274969
Friedman H.M., Koropchak C.
Comparison of WI-38, MRC-5, and IMR-90 cell strains for isolation of viruses from clinical specimens.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 7:368-371(1978)

PubMed=352912; DOI=10.1007/BF02618218
Montgomery P.O. Jr., Cook J.E., Reynolds R.C., Paul J.S., Hayflick L., Stock D., Schulz W.W., Kimsey S., Thirolf R.G., Rogers T., Campbell D.
The response of single human cells to zero gravity.
In Vitro 14:165-173(1978)

PubMed=656543; DOI=10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85487-3; PMCID=PMC1473442
Ehmann U.K., Cook K.H., Friedberg E.C.
The kinetics of thymine dimer excision in ultraviolet-irradiated human cells.
Biophys. J. 22:249-264(1978)

PubMed=699332; DOI=10.1016/0009-8981(78)90444-8
Knaup G., Pfleiderer G., Bayreuther K.
Human diploid lung fibroblast cell lines WI 26 and WI 38 exhibit isozyme shift of alkaline phosphatase after viral transformation.
Clin. Chim. Acta 88:375-383(1978)

PubMed=535915; DOI=10.1007/BF02618249
Houghton B.A., Stidworthy G.H.
A growth history comparison of the human diploid cells WI-38 and IMR-90: proliferative capacity and cell sizing analysis.
In Vitro 15:697-702(1979)

PubMed=6256643; DOI=10.1038/288724a0
Day R.S. 3rd, Ziolkowski C.H.J., Scudiero D.A., Meyer S.A., Lubiniecki A.S., Girardi A.J., Galloway S.M., Bynum G.D.
Defective repair of alkylated DNA by human tumour and SV40-transformed human cell strains.
Nature 288:724-727(1980)

PubMed=7065527; DOI=10.1164/arrd.1982.125.2.222
Hay R.J., Williams C.D., Macy M.L., Lavappa K.S.
Cultured cell lines for research on pulmonary physiology available through the American Type Culture Collection.
Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 125:222-232(1982)

PubMed=6409440; DOI=10.1093/carcin/4.7.911
Smith P.J., Greene M.H., Adams D., Paterson M.C.
Abnormal responses to the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide of cultured fibroblasts from patients with dysplastic nevus syndrome and hereditary cutaneous malignant melanoma.
Carcinogenesis 4:911-916(1983)

PubMed=6887978; DOI=10.1016/0047-6374(83)90043-x
Aronson J.F., McClaskey J.W., Cristofalo V.J.
Human fetal lung fibroblasts: observations on origin and stability in culture.
Mech. Ageing Dev. 21:229-244(1983)

DOI=10.1016/B978-0-12-007903-2.50014-3
Hayflick L.
The coming of age of WI-38.
Adv. Cell Cult. 3:303-316(1984)

PubMed=6538202; DOI=10.1083/jcb.98.3.1133; PMCID=PMC2113122
Azzarone B., Suarez H.G., Mingari M.C., Moretta L., Fauci A.S.
4F2 monoclonal antibody recognizes a surface antigen on spread human fibroblasts of embryonic but not of adult origin.
J. Cell Biol. 98:1133-1137(1984)

CLPUB00597
National Institute on Aging
1994 catalog of cell lines. NIA Aging Cell Repository.
(In misc. document) Institute for Medical Research (Camden, N.J.); pp.1-351; National Institutes of Health; Bethesda; USA (1994)

PubMed=7972006; DOI=10.1073/pnas.91.23.11045; PMCID=PMC45163
Okamoto A., Demetrick D.J., Spillare E.A., Hagiwara K., Hussain S.P., Bennett W.P., Forrester K., Gerwin B.I., Serrano M., Beach D.H., Harris C.C.
Mutations and altered expression of p16INK4 in human cancer.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91:11045-11049(1994)

DOI=10.11418/jtca1981.16.3_147
Hayflick L.
The use of human cells for production of human biologicals.
Tissue Cult. Res. Commun. 16:147-156(1997)

PubMed=17395773; DOI=10.1634/stemcells.2006-0504
Sudo K., Kanno M., Miharada K., Ogawa S., Hiroyama T., Saijo K., Nakamura Y.
Mesenchymal progenitors able to differentiate into osteogenic, chondrogenic, and/or adipogenic cells in vitro are present in most primary fibroblast-like cell populations.
Stem Cells 25:1610-1617(2007)

PubMed=19896956; DOI=10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2009.10.013
Wilson P.F., Nham P.B., Urbin S.S., Hinz J.M., Jones I.M., Thompson L.H.
Inter-individual variation in DNA double-strand break repair in human fibroblasts before and after exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation.
Mutat. Res. 683:91-97(2010)

PubMed=20215515; DOI=10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-3458; PMCID=PMC2881662
Rothenberg S.M., Mohapatra G., Rivera M.N., Winokur D., Greninger P., Nitta M., Sadow P.M., Sooriyakumar G., Brannigan B.W., Ulman M.J., Perera R.M., Wang R., Tam A., Ma X.-J., Erlander M., Sgroi D.C., Rocco J.W., Lingen M.W., Cohen E.E.W., Louis D.N., Settleman J., Haber D.A.
A genome-wide screen for microdeletions reveals disruption of polarity complex genes in diverse human cancers.
Cancer Res. 70:2158-2164(2010)

PubMed=22984048; DOI=10.1126/science.337.6100.1292-a
Hayflick L.
Paying for tissue: the case of WI-38.
Science 337:1292-1292(2012)

DOI=10.1038/498407a
Nature editorial staff
A culture of consent.
Nature 498:407-407(2013)

DOI=10.1038/498422a
Wadman M.
Medical research: cell division.
Nature 498:422-426(2013)

PubMed=25063771; DOI=10.18632/aging.100679; PMCID=PMC4153623
Sidler C., Woycicki R., Kovalchuk I., Kovalchuk O.
WI-38 senescence is associated with global and site-specific hypomethylation.
Aging (Albany N.Y.) 6:564-574(2014)

PubMed=25903999; DOI=10.1002/biot.201400388
Genzel Y.
Designing cell lines for viral vaccine production: where do we stand?
Biotechnol. J. 10:728-740(2015)

CLPUB00391
Wadman M.
The vaccine race: science; politics; and the human costs of defeating disease.
(In book) ISBN 9780525427537; pp.1-436; Viking; New York; USA (2016)

PubMed=29546209; DOI=10.3934/publichealth.2017.2.127; PMCID=PMC5689800
Olshansky S.J., Hayflick L.
The role of the WI-38 cell strain in saving lives and reducing morbidity.
AIMS Public Health 4:127-138(2017)

Cross-references
Cell line collections (Providers) AddexBio; T0016037/5007
ATCC; CCL-75
ATCC; CRL-7728 - Discontinued
CCTCC; GDC0016
CLS; 300428
Coriell; AG06814-J
Coriell; AG06814-M
Coriell; AG06814-N
ECACC; 90020107
IZSLER; BS CL 90
JCRB; IFO50075
JCRB; JCRB9017 - Discontinued
KCB; KCB 200556YJ
KCLB; 10075 - Discontinued
RCB; RCB0702
RCB; RCB0704
TKG; TKG 0360
Cell line databases/resources CLO; CLO_0009591
CLO; CLO_0009594
CLO; CLO_0035526
CLO; CLO_0035534
MCCL; MCC:0000485
CLDB; cl4703
CLDB; cl4704
CLDB; cl4705
cancercelllines; CVCL_0579
CCRID; 1101HUM-PUMC000210
CCRID; 1102HUM-NIFDC00067
CCRID; 3101HUMGNHu42
CCRID; 3101HUMSCSP521
CCRID; 4201HUM-CCTCC00016
IGRhCellID; WI38
Lonza; 495
Anatomy/cell type resources BTO; BTO:0000458
Biological sample resources BioSample; SAMN01821606
BioSample; SAMN01821721
BioSample; SAMN03471285
Chemistry resources ChEMBL-Cells; CHEMBL3307614
ChEMBL-Cells; CHEMBL3307476
ChEMBL-Targets; CHEMBL614391
ChEMBL-Targets; CHEMBL612806
PubChem_Cell_line; CVCL_0579
Encyclopedic resources Wikidata; Q7950532
Experimental variables resources EFO; EFO_0001260
Gene expression databases ArrayExpress; E-MTAB-38
GEO; GSE12450
GEO; GSE33710
GEO; GSM827323
GEO; GSM1022634
GEO; GSM1022637
GEO; GSM1022647
GEO; GSM1022655
Polymorphism and mutation databases Progenetix; CVCL_0579
Entry history
Entry creation04-Apr-2012
Last entry update10-Sep-2024
Version number42