The Coriell Institute for Medical Research is excited to announce the addition of six new cell lines to the Allen Cell Collection now publicly available for research.
Created by the Allen Institute for Cell Science and distributed through the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, the Allen Cell Collection consists of gene-edited human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines in which key structural proteins have been fluorescently tagged using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. This gives researchers a clear view into the inner workings of these cells, allowing them to clearly observe key cell structures.
Researchers are able to introduce certain mutations to these cells, which can be used to study disease progression.
The first five cell lines from the Allen Cell Collection were made available through Coriell in November of last year and additional lines are slated to be released throughout 2017 as they are made available.
Specifics on the six new lines
Six new fluorescently tagged human iPS cell lines, representing an additional 6 key cellular structures have been added to the Allen Cell Collection of GFP-tagged molecules; the collection now contains 11 distinct cell lines. New additions include beta-actin, non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIB, and tight junction protein ZO-1, which label actin filaments, actomyosin bundles and tight junctions respectively. These structures reinforce the apico-basal polarity, and therefore, the epithelial nature of these cells. Other tagged proteins include Sec61-beta, a central component of the protein translocation apparatus that identified the endoplasmic reticulum, and fibrillarin, a protein located in the dense fibrillary component of the nucleolus. The sixth line in this group contains GFP at the safe harbor locus (AAVS1) allowing detection of cytoplasmic GFP.
This next group enables the following structures to be visualized in living cells:
• actin filaments, tagged by beta-actin,
• actomyosin bundles, tagged by non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIB,
• tight junctions, tagged by the tight junction protein ZO-1
• endoplasmic reticulum, tagged by Sec61-beta
• nucleolus, tagged by fibrillarin
• cell cytoplasm, tagged by the Safe harbor locus (AAVS1)
To learn more about these lines and other lines that are in preparation in the Allen Institute for Cell Science gene editing pipeline visit http://www.allencell.org/cell-line-catalog. To purchase these cell lines for use in your own research visit https://catalog.coriell.org/.
About the Coriell Institute for Medical Research
Coriell Institute for Medical Research, an independent nonprofit dedicated to the study of the human genome, is recognized as one of the world's leading biobanks, distributing biological samples and offering research and biobanking services to scientists around the globe. A pioneer in genomics, Coriell is examining the utility of genetic information in clinical care through the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) research study. The Institute is also unlocking the promise of induced pluripotent stem cells and their role in disease research and drug discovery.
About the Allen Institute for Cell Science
The Allen Institute for Cell Science is a division of the Allen Institute (alleninstitute.org), an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit medical research organization, and is a research organization dedicated to understanding and modeling cells: the fundamental units of life. By integrating technologies, approaches, models and data into a common standardized framework, the Allen Institute for Cell Science is creating dynamic, visual models of how genetic information is transformed into cellular behavior, and how the molecules and organelles within each cell interact and function as systems. These predictive models will enable the cell science community to better understand the role of cells in both health and disease. The Allen Institute for Cell Science was launched in 2014 with a contribution from founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen. The data, tools and models from the Allen Institute for Cell Science will be publicly available online.
