Common origins of MDA-MB-435 cells from various sources with those shown to have melanoma properties

Recently, the tissue origin of MDA-MB-435 cell line has been the subject of considerable debate. In this study, we set out to determine whether MDA-MB-435-DTP cells shown to express melanoma-specific genes were identical to various other MDA-MB-435 cell stocks worldwide. CGH-microarray, genetic polymorphism genotyping, microsatellite fingerprint analysis and/or chromosomal number confirmed that the MDA-MB-435 cells maintained at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (MDA-MB-435-LCC) are almost identical to the MDA-MB-435-DTP cells, and showed a very similar profile to those obtained from the same original source (MD Anderson Cancer Center) but maintained independently (MDA-MB-435-PMCC). Gene expression profile analysis confirmed common expression of genes among different MDA-MB-435-LCC cell stocks, and identified some unique gene products in MDA-MB-435-PMCC cells. RT-PCR analysis confirmed the expression of the melanoma marker tyrosinase across multiple MDA-MB-435 cell stocks. Collectively, our results show that the MDA-MB-435 cells used widely have identical origins to those that exhibit a melanoma-like gene expression signature, but exhibit a small degree of genotypic and phenotypic drift