Keeping Tabs on Cultured Cells

Photo courtesy of Drs. C.C. Uphoff and H.G. Drexler, DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganism and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

HeLa cell line infected with Mycoplasma hyorhinis. Scanning electron micrograph of critical point-dried cell culture grown on cover slips. Note the loop- and rod-like mycoplasmas attached to the host cell membrane. Smaller web-like structures on the cell surface represent microvilli of the cell. Original magnification 3,000×.

Mycoplasmas have been called the crabgrass of cell cultures.¹ Hard to detect, and even harder to eliminate, these simple intracellular bacteria frequently contaminate cell culture lines, wreaking havoc on cell function and metabolism without raising obvious warning flags such as changes in turbidity or pH.

Labs often don't test their cell lines adequately for mycoplasma, in part because the methods for detecting contamination historically have been time-consuming and difficult to interpret, and sending cells to a specialized testing service can be prohibitively expensive. But in recent ...