Characterization of Thyroid Cancer Cell Lines

Nthy ori 3-1 representing human follicular thyroid cells were obtained from the European Collection of Cell Cultures (ECACC). BCPAP (PTC-derived) and SW1736 (ATC-derived) cell lines were kindly provided by Professor G. Brabant (Lubeck, Germany) and Professor McCabe (Birmingham, UK). BCPAP and SW1736 harbour a BRAF V600 E mutation which is present in estimated 45% PCT and 20% of ATC [16 (link), 17 (link)]. All cell lines were verified using STR fingerprinting. Nthy ori 3-1 and BCPAP cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 culture medium, and SW1736 was cultured in high-glucose DMEM medium supplemented with 2 mM l-glutamine (Sigma), 10% foetal bovine serum (Life technologies) and 100 Iu/ml penicillin and streptomycin (Gibco).