Is HEK293 cancerous?

HEK 293 cells are popular for their ease of growth and transfection, making them a common cell culture in cancer research. HEK 293 can be employed as a highly malignant tumor model as its tumorigenicity increases significantly in high-passage.

What does HEK293 stand for?

Human embryonic kidney 293 cells
Human embryonic kidney 293 cells, also often referred to as HEK 293, HEK-293, 293 cells, or less precisely as HEK cells, are a specific immortalised cell line derived from an aborted fetus or human embryonic kidney cells grown in tissue culture taken from a female fetus in 1973.

What is the difference between 293T and 293 ft?

You can use HEK293 cells for lentivirus production, but keep in mind that the titers will be lower. 293T cells and 293FT cells grow faster and are easier to transfect than HEK293 cells and result in higher titers of lentivirus. So most lentiviral protocols use 293FT cells to produce lentivirus.

Are 293 cells adherent?

293 cells are commonly found and grown in many tissue culture facilities as strains that grow as both adherent and non-adherent phenotypes. However, most of the strains are described as adherent. Loss of adherence can also be problematic during cell based assays.

How many times can you passage HEK293 cells?

As above – in theory they can keep forever, however, the longer they are in continuous culture, the more chance you have of contamination and mutation. Best practice is to cryopreserve your own stock form your earliest passages post thawing then return to these every 2-3 months.

Are HEK293 transformed?

Cultured cell lines are often used as model systems in these experiments. In some investigations the results obtained on such cells are interpreted by the authors as a malignant transformation of normal animal or even normal human cells (as for example with HEK293 cells).

Where is HEK293 from?

human embryonic kidney cells
HEK293 is a cell line derived from human embryonic kidney cells grown in tissue culture. They are also known, more informally, as HEK cells.

What is an embryonic kidney?

Summary. Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK) 293 is a cell line commonly used for BioPharma and Basic Medical research and therapeutic solutions. The adenovirus genes expressed in this line allow cells to produce consistently high levels of recombinant proteins. HEK-293 cells are also unusual, in that they are hypotriploid.

What is another name for HEK293?

Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cells, also known as HEK293, 293 cells, or even as HEK cells, are a cell line derived from human embryonic kidney.

Is HEK293 adherent or suspension?

HEK293 are rounded cells that grow in suspension in cell culture, although initially they were an adherent cell line.

Is HEK293 synthetic?

The human cell line HEK293 has bio-synthetic potential for human-like production attributes and is currently used for manufacturing of several therapeutic proteins and viral vectors.

What kind of cell is the HEK 293 line?

An embryonic adrenal precursor cell therefore seems the most likely origin cell of the HEK 293 line. As a consequence, HEK 293 cells should not be used as an in vitro model of typical kidney cells.

Why are HEK293 cells used in cancer research?

HEK293 Protocols: Cell Culture, Transfection, Protein Production. HEK 293 cells are popular for their ease of growth and transfection ( HEK293 Transfection Kit ), making them a common cell culture in cancer research. In addition, high transfection efficiency of HEK293 cells produces exogenous proteins or viruses for pharmaceutical…

Where did the name HEK 293 come from?

They are called HEK since they originated in human embryonic kidney cultures, while the number 293 came from Graham’s habit of numbering his experiments; the original HEK 293 cell clone was from his 293rd experiment.

How are HEK 293 cells produced in the kidneys?

For many years it was assumed that HEK 293 cells were generated by transformation of either a fibroblastic, endothelial or epithelial cell, all of which are abundant in kidneys. However, the original adenovirus transformation was inefficient, suggesting that the cell that finally produced the HEK 293 line may have been unusual in some fashion.