WM3704 Viable Cells

Cells are sterile, validated by short tandem repeat profiling, and are tested as negative for mycoplasma. It is recommended that cell lines are tested for mycoplasma contamination and short tandem repeat (STR) profiling every 10 passages or each time a frozen seed stock is made. See cell culture protocol for additional details. WM3704 is a metastatic human melanoma cell line that displays a mesenchymal morphology. This cell line was established from a lymph node metastasis site of a patient. This cell line features the specific V600E (Val600Glu) mutation at codon 600 in the BRAF gene. This mutation causes constitutively active kinase activity and activation of MEK and ERK signaling pathway. This cell line also expresses mutated PTEN gene and R24H mutation at position 24 in the CDK4 gene. The R24H mutation results in an amino acid substitution at codon 24 in CDK4, from an arginine (R) to histidine (H). This mutation is an activating mutation, as it results in growth advantages by preventing p16 binding, while maintaining the ability of CDK4 to form a functional kinase with cyclin D. WM3704 cells produce xenograft tumors when injected into immunocompromised mice.