Raji cell (original) (raw)

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Human cell line

Raji cell culture.

Raji is the first continuous human cell line of hematopoietic origin.[1] The Raji cell line is widely used as a transfection host.[2]

Raji cells were derived from the B-lymphocytes of an 11-year-old Nigerian Burkitt lymphoma male patient in 1963 by R.J.V. Pulvertaft and was further worked on by B.O. Osunkoya (University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria).[3][4]

The Raji cell line is categorized as lymphoblast-like. The culture medium used to grow Raji cells is RPMI supplemented with serum. Some characteristics of Raji cells include a lack of differentiation, illustrated by the formation of large aggregations of hundreds of individual cells. The cells are relatively small in diameter (5-8 μm), have irregular indented nuclei, and almost extensive cytoplasm with free ribosomes which tend to clump.[5] Raji cells grow as single, non-motile, free-floating (non-adhesion) individuals or doublets to glass. Some cells look elongated, pear-shaped with larger, multinucleate, round cells.[5]

The Raji cell line produces an unusual strain of Epstein–Barr virus, which both transforms cord blood lymphocytes and induces early antigens in the cells. Translocations between chromosomes 8 and 22 have occurred in all three variations of the Raji cell line, but some cells synthesize immunoglobulin M with light chains of the kappa type, in contrast to the usual concordance between a translocation involving chromosome 22 and lambda chain synthesis. Both kappa genes and one lambda gene are rearranged. These findings indicate either that translocation may occur as a separate event from immunoglobulin gene rearrangement or that the proposed hierarchical sequence of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements is not always adhered to. The data also imply that in cells containing a translocation between the long arm of chromosome 8 and a chromosome bearing an immunoglobulin gene, alteration of cellular myc expression may occur regardless of the immunoglobulin gene that is expressed.[6] The cells grow in a suspension, are diploid, and are lymphoblastoid in morphology.

  1. ^ B Fadeel (30 September 2004). "Raji revisited: cytogenetics of the original Burkitt's lymphoma cell line". Leukemia. 19 (1): 159–161. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2403534. PMID 15457187.
  2. ^ Ling Yong, CL; et al. (9 August 2014). "Microbubble-mediated sonoporation for highly efficient transfection of recalcitrant human B- cell lines". Journal of Biotechnology. 9 (8): 1081–1087. doi:10.1002/biot.201300507. PMID 24818807. S2CID 46297772.
  3. ^ Pulvertaft, R. J. V. (1 May 1965). "A study of malignant tumours in Nigeria by short-term tissue culture". Journal of Clinical Pathology. 18 (3): 261–273. doi:10.1136/jcp.18.3.261. PMC 472922. PMID 14304234.
  4. ^ Osunkoya, B O (December 1965). "The preservation of Burkitt tumour cells at moderately low temperature". British Journal of Cancer. 19 (4): 749–753. doi:10.1038/bjc.1965.87. PMC 2071391. PMID 5862655.
  5. ^ a b Cell Bank. "JCRB9012 [RAJI]". Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  6. ^ Magrath, I; Erikson, J; Whang-Peng, J; Sieverts, H; Armstrong, G; Benjamin, D; Triche, T; Alabaster, O; Croce, C. (9 December 1983). "Synthesis of kappa light chains by cell lines containing an 8;22 chromosomal translocation derived from a male homosexual with Burkitt's lymphoma". Science. 222 (4628): 1094–1098. Bibcode:1983Sci...222.1094M. doi:10.1126/science.6316501. PMID 6316501.