MC38 colorectal tumor cell lines from two different sources display substantial differences in transcriptome, mutanome and neoantigen expression.

The cell line MC38 is a commonly used murine model for colorectal carcinoma. It has a high mutational burden, is sensitive to immune checkpoint immunotherapy and endogenous CD8+ T cell responses against neoantigens have been reported. Here, we re-sequenced exomes and transcriptomes of MC38 cells from two different sources, namely Kerafast (originating from NCI/NIH, MC38-K) and the Leiden University Medical Center cell line collection (MC38-L), comparing the cell lines on the genomic and transcriptomic level and analyzing their recognition by CD8+ T cells with known neo-epitope specificity. The data reveals a distinct structural composition of MC38-K and MC38-L cell line genomes and different ploidies. Further, the MC38-L cell line harbored about 1.3-fold more single nucleotide variations and small insertions and deletions than the MC38-K cell line. In addition, the observed mutational signatures differed; only 35.3% of the non-synonymous variants and 5.4% of the fusion gene events were shared. Transcript expression values of both cell lines correlated strongly (p = 0.919), but we found different pathways enriched in the genes that were differentially upregulated in the MC38-L or MC38-K cells, respectively. Our data show that previously described neoantigens in the MC38 model such as Rpl18 This strongly indicates that at least two sub-cell lines of MC38 exist in the field and underlines the importance of meticulous tracking of investigated cell lines to obtain reproducible results, and for correct interpretation of the immunological data without artifacts. We present our analyses as a reference for researchers to select the appropriate sub-cell line for their own studies.

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Copyright © 2023 Schrörs, Hos, Yildiz, Löwer, Lang, Holtsträter, Becker, Vormehr, Sahin, Ossendorp and Diken.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Authors MV, US, and MD were employed by company BioNTech SE. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.