Misidentified cell lines: failures of peer review, varying journal responses to misidentification inquiries, and strategies for safeguarding biomedical research

BACKGROUND: Continuous cell lines are indispensable in basic and preclinical research. However, cross-contamination, misidentification, and over-passaging affect the validity and reproducibility of biomedical results. Although there have been efforts to highlight this problem for decades, definitive prevention remains a challenge. The International Cell Line Authentication Committee (ICLAC) registry (version 13, 26 April 2024) lists nearly 600 misidentified or contaminated cell lines. The inappropriate use of such cells has led to countless publications containing invalid data, creating a ripple effect of wasted resources, misleading follow-up studies, and compromised evidence-based conclusions. METHODS: The ICLAC registry was consulted to identify commonly misidentified cell lines. A literature search of PubMed was performed to identify recent papers using these lines in liver-related experiments. Four publications with questionable conclusions were highlighted, and the editors of the respective journals were informed with short comments or letters to the editor. RESULTS: Reactions from journal editors varied widely. In two cases, the editors quickly published the comments, resulting in transparent corrections. In the third example, the editor conducted an internal investigation without immediately publishing a correction. In the fourth example, the journal declined to address concerns publicly. CONCLUSIONS: Misidentified cell lines pose an ongoing threat to scientific rigor. Despite some responsible editorial interventions, the lack of universal standards fosters the dissemination of erroneous data. However, authors, reviewers, and editors have some important tools to prevent publications with misidentified cells by consulting available resources (e.g., ICLAC, Cellosaurus, Research Resource Identification Portal, SciScore™), and adopting consistent procedures to maintain research integrity.