Research Resource: STR DNA profile and gene expression comparisons of human BG-1 cells and a BG-1/MCF-7 clonal variant.

Human ovarian cancer BG-1 cells are a valuable in vitro model that has enabled several laboratories to study the estrogenic responses of ovarian cancers. We recently discovered that there are two different BG-1 cell lines being used for experiments, denoted here as BG-1 FR and BG-1 NIEHS, which exhibit striking morphological differences. The objective of this study was to methodically analyze these two BG-1 variants and compare their characteristics. Short tandem repeat analysis revealed that the DNA profile of BG-1 FR cells was unique, yet the Short tandem repeat pattern of BG-1 NIEHS was identical with that of MCF-7 cells. From a cytogenetic analysis, it became apparent that the BG-1 FR line had the same profile as previously reported, whereas the BG-1 NIEHS and MCF-7 cells share a similar genetic display. A significant number of unique chromosomal translocations were observed between the BG-1 NIEHS and MCF-7 cells, suggesting that acquired genotypic differences resulted in the formation of two lines from a common origin. Although all cell types demonstrated a similar estrogen responsiveness in reporter gene assays, a microarray analysis revealed distinct estrogen-responsive gene expression patterns with surprisingly moderate to low overlap. We conclude that BG-1 FR is the original ovarian cancer cell line, whereas the BG-1 NIEHS is a variant from the MCF-7 cells. These findings provide much needed clarification of the identities and characteristics of key cell line models that are widely used to study estrogen action in female reproductive cancers.