Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are a cell line derived from the ovary of the Chinese hamster. They are often used in biological and medical research and commercially in the production of therapeutic proteins. They were introduced in the 1960s and grow as a cultured monolayer. They require the amino acid proline in their culture medium.
CHO cells are used in studies of genetics, toxicity screening, nutrition and gene expression, particularly to express recombinant proteins. Today, CHO cells are the most commonly used mammalian hosts for industrial production of recombinant protein therapeutics.
The use of the Chinese hamster in research began in 1919 where they were used in place of mice for typing pneumococci. They were subsequently found to be excellent vectors for transmission of kala-azar (also known as visceral leishmaniasis), facilitating research in epidemiology.
In 1948, the Chinese hamster was brought to the United States for breeding in research laboratories. In the following years, the Chinese hamster became noteworthy for the cell lines that were derived from its tissues. Having a very low chromosome number (2n=22) for a mammal, the Chinese hamster is an ideal model for radiation cytogenetics and tissue culture.
In 1957, T. Puck obtained a female Chinese hamster from Dr. George Yerganian's laboratory at the Boston Cancer Research Foundation and used it to derive the original Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. Since then, CHO cells have been a cell line of choice because of their rapid growth and high protein production. They have become the mammalian equivalent of E. coli in research and biotechnology today, especially when long-term, stable gene expression and high yields of proteins are required.
CHO cells do not express the Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which makes them ideal in the investigation of various EGFR mutations.
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
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