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| MDA-MB-231 | |
|---|---|
| Name | MDA-MB-231 |
| Type | Human breast cancer cell line |
| Origin | Triple-negative breast carcinoma, pleural effusion |
| Established | 1973 |
| Derived from | Female patient (metastatic cancer) |
| Morphology | Mesenchymal, spindle-shaped |
| Doubling time | ~30–48 hours |
| Common uses | Metastasis models, drug screening, EMT studies |
MDA-MB-231 is a widely used human breast cancer cell line derived from a metastatic pleural effusion. It is classified as triple-negative and is employed extensively in studies of metastasis, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and therapeutic resistance. Laboratories around the world use this line for in vitro assays and in vivo xenograft models to investigate mechanisms relevant to breast cancer, oncology, and pharmacology.
The cell line was established in the early 1970s from a patient with metastatic breast carcinoma at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of several lines created during a period of expanding tumor biobanking alongside collections at National Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Its derivation was contemporaneous with efforts by investigators associated with institutions such as Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to standardize cancer models. Early characterization and distribution through repositories intersected with archival programs at the American Type Culture Collection and collaborations involving researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Sloan Kettering Institute.
MDA-MB-231 exhibits a spindle-shaped, fibroblast-like morphology under light microscopy and is considered mesenchymal in phenotype. It is negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2—features that align it clinically with triple-negative tumors treated in centers like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The cells display invasive behavior in Boyden chamber assays developed using protocols popularized at Max Planck Society-affiliated labs and motility assays refined by groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
Genomic analyses reveal complex karyotypes with chromosomal rearrangements comparable to patterns documented by research consortia such as The Cancer Genome Atlas and International Cancer Genome Consortium. MDA-MB-231 commonly harbors activating mutations in genes analogous to findings at Broad Institute and mutation catalogs curated by Wellcome Sanger Institute. Altered signaling pathways include constitutive activity in nodes described in work from Harvard Medical School and University of California, San Francisco laboratories, with dysregulation of pathways explored in publications from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and Nature Publishing Group.
Investigators at institutions including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, and University of Melbourne use this line for drug screening, metastasis research, and studies of chemotherapy resistance. It serves as a model in in vitro angiogenesis assays cited by researchers associated with Karolinska Institutet and in vivo xenografts employed by groups at Stanford University School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies such as Pfizer, Novartis, and Roche have applied MDA-MB-231 in preclinical testing, while academic consortia like European Molecular Biology Laboratory have compared its responses to panels of cell lines in high-throughput projects led by Wellcome Trust-funded teams.
Standard culture conditions follow protocols used at the American Type Culture Collection and training modules from ATCC and European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures. Typical media formulations are implemented in core facilities at Rockefeller University and Scripps Research and include temperature and CO2 parameters endorsed by biosafety committees at National Institutes of Health and institutional review boards at major academic centers. Authentication and mycoplasma testing are recommended by guidance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and quality initiatives promoted by International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories.
MDA-MB-231 is used in orthotopic and tail-vein xenograft models in immunocompromised mice maintained in animal facilities at Jackson Laboratory and European Molecular Biology Laboratory affiliates. It is a mainstay in transwell migration, wound healing, and three-dimensional spheroid assays developed by groups at University College London and imaging studies leveraging platforms from Zeiss and Leica Microsystems. High-throughput screening efforts at centers such as Broad Institute and Genentech have incorporated the line into drug-response panels and CRISPR screens pioneered by teams at Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research.
Critiques documented in reviews from journals associated with Nature, Science, and Cell Press emphasize that MDA-MB-231 represents a single clonal lineage with genetic drift documented by investigators at European Bioinformatics Institute and concerns similar to discussions at National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine about model generalizability. Its aggressive mesenchymal phenotype may not recapitulate luminal breast cancers treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center or patient heterogeneity cataloged by American Association for Cancer Research. Reproducibility issues tied to cross-contamination and passage-number effects have been highlighted by groups at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and standards bodies such as International Cell Line Authentication Committee.
Category:Human cell lines