Evaluation of different methods in eliminating Mycoplasma contamination in cell culture of human hepatoma-derived cell line C3A / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of several methods in eliminating Mycoplasma contamination in cell culture of human hepatoma-derived cell line C3A. Methods PCR was performed to detect the Mycoplasmas contamination in cell cultures. The contaminated samples were treated by ciprofloxa-cin, heating, Plasmocure or co-culturing with macrophages. Transmission electron microscope ( TEM) and Q-PCR were used to comparatively analyze the cell morphology and gene expression before and after Plas-mocure treatment. Results Plasmocure succeeded in eliminating Mycoplasma contamination, while cipro-floxacin showed temporary efficacy. Heating and co-culturing with macrophages failed to eliminate Mycoplas-ma contamination. No Mycoplasma contamination in the Plasmocure-treated group was observed under TEM and the expression of ALB, TF and CYP3A4 genes were higher than the genes expressed in the contaminated group (P<0. 01). Conclusion Plasmocure treatment was effective in eliminating Mycoplasma contamina-tion in cell culture. Moreover, the cell morphology and gene expression in Plasmocure-treated group were re-stored to normal.