Screening for 15 pathogenic viruses in human cell lines registered at the JCRB Cell Bank: characterization of in vitro human cells by viral infection

Human cell lines have been used in a variety of research fields as an in vitro model. These cells are all derived from human tissue samples, thus there is a possibility of virus infection. Virus tests are routinely performed in clinical practice, but are limited in cell lines. In this study, we investigated 15 kinds of viruses in 844 human cell lines registered at the Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB) Cell Bank. Our real-time PCR analysis revealed that six viruses, EBV, HTLV-1, HBV, B19V, HHV-6 and HHV-7, were detected in 43 cell lines. Of them, 20 cell lines were transformed by intentional infection in vitro with EBV or HTLV-1. Viruses in the other 23 cell lines and one EBV transformed cell line are derived from an in vivo infection, including five de novo identifications of EBV, B19V or HHV-7 carriers. Among them, 17 cell lines were established from patients diagnosed with virus-associated diseases. However, the other seven cell lines originated from in vivo cells unrelated to disease or cellular tropism. Our approach to screen for a set of 15 viruses in each cell line has worked efficiently to identify these rare cases. Virus tests in cell lines contribute not only to safety assessments but also to investigation of in vivo viral infection which can be a characteristic feature of cell lines.