Effect of Combining EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Cytotoxic Agents on Cholangiocarcinoma Cells.

Purpose: The potential of members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB) family as drug targets in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) has not been extensively addressed. Although phase III clinical trials showed no survival benefits of erlotinib in patients with advanced CCA, the outcome of the standard-of-care chemotherapy treatment for CCA, gemcitabine/cisplatin, is discouraging so we determined the effect of other ErbB receptor inhibitors alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy in CCA cells.

Materials And Methods: ErbB receptor expression was determined in CCA patient tissues by immunohistochemistry and digital-droplet polymerase chain reaction, and in primary cells and cell lines by immunoblot.

A novel L1 retrotransposon marker for HeLa cell line identification.

The HeLa cell line is the oldest, most widely distributed, permanent human cell line. As a nearly ubiquitous inhabitant of laboratories using tissue culture techniques, its aggressive growth characteristics make it a problematic contaminant that can overgrow less robust cell lines. Consequently, HeLa contamination is common in both the research laboratory and cell line repository contexts, and its detection is hampered by the lack of a rapid, sensitive and robust assay.