Establishment and Characterization of UM-SCC Cell Lines

All of the UM-SCC cell lines were established from head and neck cancer patients who gave written informed consent in studies reviewed and approved by the University of Michigan Medical School Institutional Review Board. Current and early passage human UM-SCC cell lines established at the University of Michigan ^{(1 –3 (link), 5 (link), 30 (link))} were retrieved from liquid nitrogen storage. Cell lines were grown in complete Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (cDMEM) containing 2 mM L-glutamine, 1% nonessential amino acids, 1% Penicillin-Streptomycin (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and 10% fetal bovine serum, in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO₂ at 37°C. All cell lines were tested for mycoplasma, using the MycoAlert Detection Kit (Cambrex, Rockland, ME). Contaminated cultures were treated with Plasmocin according to the manufacturer’s protocol, and testing was repeated at monthly intervals.