MRC-5
{{short description|Cell line}}
File:MERS Coronavirus Particles (14702511068).jpg
MRC-5 (Medical Research Council cell strain 5) is a diploid cell culture line composed of fibroblasts, originally developed from the lung tissue of a 14-week-old aborted white male fetus.{{cite web|title=MRC-5 (ATCC® CCL-171™)|url=http://www.atcc.org/Products/All/CCL-171.aspx|accessdate=2016-05-19}}{{cite web|title=AG05965-D Fibroblast from Skin, Lung|url=https://catalog.coriell.org/0/Sections/Search/Sample_Detail.aspx?Ref=AG05965-D|accessdate=2016-05-19}} The cell line was isolated by J.P. Jacobs and colleagues in September 1966 from the seventh population doubling of the original strain, and MRC-5 cells themselves are known to reach senescence in around 45 population doublings.{{cite journal|last1=Jacobs|first1=J. P.|last2=Jones|first2=C. M.|last3=Baille|first3=J. P.|title=Characteristics of a Human Diploid Cell Designated MRC-5|journal=Nature|date=1970|volume=227|issue=5254|pages=168–70|doi=10.1038/227168a0|pmid=4316953|bibcode=1970Natur.227..168J |s2cid=4178701 }}{{cite journal|last=Jacobs|first=J. P.|title=The Status of Human Diploid Cell Strain MRC-5 as an Approved Substrate for the Production of Viral Vaccines|journal=Journal of Biological Standardization|date=1976|volume=4|issue=2|pages=97–99|doi=10.1016/0092-1157(76)90018-4|pmid=932048}}
Applications
MRC-5 cells are currently used to produce several vaccines including for hepatitis A, varicella and polio.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/fact-checking-congress-s-fetal-tissue-report|title=Fact-checking Congress's fetal tissue report}}
Culture and society
During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-vaccination and anti-abortion activists believed that MRC-5 was an ingredient of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, citing a study from the University of Bristol. David Matthews, a co-author for this study, clarified that MRC-5 was solely used for testing purposes to determine "how the Oxford vaccine behaves when it is inside a genetically normal human cell."{{cite web |last1=Kim |first1=Noah Y. |title=The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does not contain aborted fetal tissue |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/nov/18/facebook-posts/oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-does-not-contain-aborte/ |website=Politifact |access-date=October 8, 2021 |date=November 18, 2020}} The manufacturing of the vaccine used the HEK 293 fetal cell line, the kidney cells of an aborted or spontaneously miscarried female fetus, though the cells are filtered out of the final product.
See also
References
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External links
- [https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_0440 Cellosaurus entry for MRC-5]
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