Jurkat cells are an
immortalized line of human
T lymphocyte cells that are used to study acute T cell
leukemia,
T cell signaling, and the expression of various
chemokine receptors susceptible to viral entry, particularly
HIV. Jurkat cells can produce
interleukin 2
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an interleukin, a type of cytokine signaling molecule in the immune system. It is a 15.5–16 kDa protein that regulates the activities of white blood cells (leukocytes, often lymphocytes) that are responsible for ...
, and are used in research involving the susceptibility of cancers to drugs and radiation.
History
The Jurkat cell line (originally called JM) was established in the mid-1970s from the
peripheral blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
of a 14-year-old boy with T cell leukemia. Different derivatives of the Jurkat cell line that have been mutated to lack certain genes can now be obtained from cell culture banks.
Examples of derivatives
* The JCaM1.6 cell line is deficient in
Lck activity due to the deletion of part of the
''LCK'' gene (
exon
An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequen ...
7) from the ''LCK''
transcript.
* J.RT3-T3.5 cells have a mutation in the
T cell receptor beta chain locus precluding expression of this chain. This affects the cells in several ways; they do not express surface
CD3 or produce the T cell receptor alpha/beta
heterodimer
In biochemistry, a protein dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually non-covalently bound. Many macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, form dimers. The word ''dimer'' has ...
. Since they are deficient in the TCR complex, these cells are a useful tool for transfection studies using T cell receptor alpha and beta chain genes and are widely used in labs in which
T cell receptor gene transfer technologies are studied.
* The I 9.2 and I 2.1 cell lines. The I 2.1 cell line is functionally defective for
FADD and the I 9.2 cell line is functionally defective for
caspase-8, both defective molecules being essential to
apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...
or
necroptosis of cells.
* The D1.1 cell line does not express the
CD4
In molecular biology, CD4 (cluster of differentiation 4) is a glycoprotein that serves as a co-receptor for the T-cell receptor (TCR). CD4 is found on the surface of immune cells such as T helper cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic ...
molecule, an important
co-receptor in the activation pathway of
helper T cells.
* The J.gamma1 subline contains no detectable
phospholipase C
Phospholipase C (PLC) is a class of membrane-associated enzymes that cleave phospholipids just before the phosphate group (see figure). It is most commonly taken to be synonymous with the human forms of this enzyme, which play an important role ...
-gamma1 (PLC-γ1) protein and therefore has profound defects in T cell receptor (TCR)
calcium mobilization
Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...
and activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (
NFAT, an important
transcription factor in T cells).
* J-Lat contains integrated but transcriptionally latent HIV proviruses, in which
GFP GFP may refer to:
Organisations
* Gaelic Football Provence, a French Gaelic Athletic Association club
* Geheime Feldpolizei, the German secret military police during the Second World War
* French Group for the Study of Polymers and their Applicat ...
replaces ''nef'' coding sequence, and a frameshift mutation in ''env''.
Cell line contamination
Jurkat J6 cells have been found to produce a
xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV) (referred to as
XMRV) that could potentially affect experimental outcomes. There is no evidence that this virus can infect humans. This infection may also change the virulence and tropism of the virus by way of phenotypic mixing and/or recombination.
References
External links
*{{MeshName, Jurkat Cells
Cellosaurus entry for Jurkat
Human cell lines
Cellular senescence