Cell Line Authentication in Vision Research and Beyond: A Tale Retold

We live in an age where new technologies, and organizations involved in the distribution of biological materials, such as cell culture lines, have eased accessibility to a variety of in vitro models, developed, and/or harvested from different sources. In translational and basic ophthalmology research, in vitro assays are an essential component to discovery and preclinical studies. It is, therefore, of utmost importance for vision researchers to be cognizant of the risks surrounding the use of newly developed cell culture models and how scientific integrity could be impacted when standard operating procedures are not followed for cell line validation and identification. Herein, we discuss authentication challenges we faced when we obtained a newly marketed human choroidal endothelial cell line for vision research, and outline our process of validating and characterizing primary human choroidal endothelial cell lines in the laboratory.