Cell Line Authentication Reveals HeLa-Derived Contamination of SACC-83 and SACC-LM in Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research.

Abstract

SACC-83 was established in 1990 from a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma, with SACC-LM as its lung-metastatic subline derived through in vivo selection in nude mice. Although several other purported ACC cell lines have already been reported as cross-contaminated, the true origin of SACC-83 and SACC-LM has remained unclear despite their wide use in the field. To address this, we carried out short tandem repeat (STR) profiling on 10 SACC-83 and SACC-LM samples submitted from six independent laboratories across China during our routine authentication work. Statistical analysis using the classic Tanabe comparison algorithm on the CLASTR website returned matches to multiple common cell line contaminants. Among these, comparison with HeLa yielded a random match probability (RMP) of 1.29 × 10^-19 and a likelihood ratio (LR) of 7.75 × 10¹⁸. These findings provide direct evidence that both SACC-83 and SACC-LM are HeLa-derived contaminants rather than authentic SACC models. We therefore recommend that researchers suspend further use of these two lines and highlight the broader role that independent authentication platforms, by virtue of their direct access to cell line data, can play as an effective early-warning system against misidentification in the scientific community.