This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| JCRB | |
|---|---|
| Name | JCRB |
| Full name | Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources Cell Bank |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Type | Biological resource center |
| Location | Japan |
JCRB
The Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources Cell Bank is a public cell bank and biological resource center founded to provide authenticated mammalian cell lines, microbial strains, and biospecimens to researchers. It serves as a central repository supporting biomedical research, clinical studies, and biotechnology development across academic institutions, industries, and regulatory agencies. The collection underpins work linked to institutions such as University of Tokyo, Osaka University, Kyoto University, RIKEN, and international repositories like the American Type Culture Collection and the European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures.
JCRB traces its origins to efforts in the 20th century to centralize cell line preservation following advances at institutions like Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the National Institutes of Health. Early Japanese initiatives involved collaboration among universities including Tohoku University and Nagoya University and national agencies such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan). Throughout the late 20th century, the bank expanded collections influenced by international standards developed at organizations like the World Health Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Milestones include formal establishment as a national repository, adoption of authentication protocols paralleling those at the ATCC, and participation in global networks alongside the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories.
JCRB operates under institutional oversight with advisory input from academic committees and national stakeholders including representatives from Keio University, Hokkaido University, and the National Cancer Center. Governance combines scientific curatorship and administrative management aligned with policies from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan) and guidance from bodies such as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. A board structure includes experts in cell biology, molecular genetics, pathology, and bioethics drawn from centers like Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research and The University of Tokyo Hospital. Internal departments commonly include acquisition, authentication, distribution, quality assurance, and legal/compliance units that coordinate with legal frameworks such as the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (Japan) for human-derived materials.
The bank maintains collections spanning human, animal, and microbial lines with contributions from laboratories including Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, and clinical centers like St. Luke's International Hospital. Holdings include heritage cell lines used in research at institutions like Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and disease-specific panels reflecting studies performed at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine. Authentication practices mirror methods disseminated by groups such as the International Cell Line Authentication Committee and employ techniques developed at the Broad Institute and Sanger Institute, including short tandem repeat profiling, karyotyping, mycoplasma testing, and isoenzyme analysis. The collection catalogs lines with provenance metadata comparable to listings found in databases curated by UniProt, GenBank, and the Human Cell Atlas initiative.
JCRB provides services encompassing distribution, cryopreservation, contamination testing, and customized cell banking for partners like Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Astellas Pharma. It supports projects in regenerative medicine connected to Osaka University Graduate School, oncology research linked to the National Cancer Center Hospital, and virology studies historically associated with Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo. Research programs hosted or facilitated by the bank have interfaces with repositories such as the European Bioinformatics Institute and collaborations with computational groups at The University of Tokyo Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences for data sharing. Training and outreach include workshops with professional societies like the Japanese Society for Cell Biology and seminars featuring speakers from Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine.
Quality assurance at the bank adheres to international norms set by organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories. Internal standard operating procedures incorporate guidelines from the World Health Organization on biobanking and follow accreditation practices similar to those of the College of American Pathologists. Quality control laboratories utilize equipment and protocols developed in collaboration with technology partners including teams at Shimadzu Corporation and Tosoh Corporation to ensure sterility, identity, and genetic stability. Ethical compliance aligns with frameworks used by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development and institutional review boards at partner hospitals.
The bank maintains formal and informal partnerships with national centers such as RIKEN BRC, international collections including the ATCC and ECACC, and research consortia like the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Collaborative projects span pharmaceutical collaborations with Daiichi Sankyo, academic exchanges with University College London, and joint standards work with the World Health Organization and the OECD. Participation in global initiatives connects the bank to data-sharing efforts with the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and material-sharing frameworks involving the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
JCRB has enabled research that contributed to discoveries in oncology, virology, and regenerative medicine originating from laboratories at Kyushu University, Fukushima Medical University, and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (Japan). Cell lines and services supplied by the bank have been cited in studies published by authors affiliated with journals and institutions including Nature, Science, The Lancet, Cell, and research groups at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The bank’s authenticated materials have supported translational research leading to therapeutic development by companies such as Chugai Pharmaceutical and diagnostic assay validation used by clinical laboratories in university hospitals like Toho University Omori Medical Center. Its role in promoting reproducibility, standardization, and resource accessibility places it alongside major repositories such as the ATCC and RIKEN BRC in global research infrastructure.
Category:Biological resource centers