Identification - Eppendorf Handling Solutions

One document is dedicated to one specific cell line, capturing critical information about the cell line’s identity. The source as well as date of receipt should be recorded by quoting the original designation of the cell line. The accession number should be retained if the cell line was obtained from a cell bank. The lot number represents a final clear assignment of the cell line. When establishing a new cell line, a unique name prevents ambiguity with respect to other cell lines or biological resources.

Use our template 'Cell profile' in order to record clearly and consistently the important details of cultivation.

Typical cell morphologies

The cell line´s origin is recorded providing information on the species and tissue of origin. In addition, microscopic images of the cell line cultured at different cell densities provide visual information about its basic morphological characteristics at a glance and thus facilitate evaluation.

The morphology of a cell line usually reflects the tissue of origin. Cell lines derived from blood tend to grow in suspension showing a lymphoblast-like morphology. Adherent cell lines derived from solid tissues can be classified as epithelial, endothelial, neuronal or fibroblast-like. Depending on the state of confluency the appearance of a culture can be quite different. It is therefore beneficial to aquire images at different confluencies. This helps to recognize unusual changes in morphology that can be a sign of an unhealthy culture (e.g. increased granularity, vacuolation, uncommon formation of spindle-shaped cells).
Observation of cell morphology should not be the only method chosen to identify the cells. Additional testing to ensure cell line identity is crucial for the acquisition of reliable data from authenticated cells.