Table 1.
HEK293 cell line derivatives.
| HEK 293 Variant | Derivation | Commercially Available? |
Desired Characteristic(s) | Year of Derivation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEK293 | Transformation of Human embryonic kidney cells with sheared fragments of adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) DNA, selected for immortalization. | Yes | Parental HEK293 cell line | 1973 |
| HEK293S | Adapted for suspension growth | Yes | Grows in suspension in modified minimal Eagle’s medium | 1984 |
| HEK293T | Stable transfection of the HEK 293 cell line with a plasmid encoding a temperature-sensitive mutant of the SV40 large T antigen | Yes | Amplification of vectors containing the SV40 ori, considerably increasing the protein expression levels during transient transfection. | Before 1985 |
| HEK293FT | Fast-growing variant of HEK293T. Expresses the SV40 large T antigen from the pCMVSPORT6TAg.neo plasmid. |
Designed for lentiviral production. | ||
| HEK293F | Cloned from the HEK293 cell line and adapted to commercial medium | Yes | Fast growth and high transfectivity. Growth in chemically defined medium | 2014 |
| HEK293H | Cloned from HEK293 to select a clone with good adherence during plaque assays. Later adapted to growth in serum-free medium (SFM) (GIBCO 293H) | Yes | Fast growth in SFM, good adherence during plaque assays, superior transfection efficiencies and a high level of protein expression | 1993 |
| HEK293E(EBNA) | Expresses the EBNA-1 protein for episomal replication of oriP harboring plasmids | Yes | Amplification of vectors containing oriP, considerably increasing the protein expression levels during transient transfection. | |
| HEK2936E | This cell line is transfected with EBNA1t, a truncated version of EBV EBNA1 lacking the Gly-Gly-Ala repeats region | Has an enhanced ability to produce recombinant protein compared to HEK293-EBNA | ||
| HEK293FTM | Derived from 293 cells by stable transfection of an FRT-site containing plasmid and of a TetR expression plasmid. | Used for fast and easy generation of a stably transfected cell pool by co-transfecting a Flp-InTM expression vector containing a gene of interest and a Flp recombinase expression vector. | Before 2001 | |
| HEK293SG | Ricin toxin-resistant clone derived from HEK293S by ethylmethanesulfonate (EMS). | Yes | Lacks N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I activity (encoded by the MGAT1 gene) and accordingly predominantly modifies glycoproteins with the Man5GlcNAc2 N-glycan. HEK293SG is used to produce homogenously N-glycosylated proteins | 2001-2002 |
| HEK293SGGD (Glycodelete) | Derives from 293SG through expression of a Golgi targeted form of endoT, an endoglycosidase from the fungus Trichoderma reesei | HEK293SGGD is mainly used to produce proteins for glycosylation studies and structural analysis | 2010 | |
| HEK293A | Subclone of the HEK293 cells with a relatively flat morphology | Facilitates the initial production, amplification and titering of replication-incompetent adenovirus | ||
| HEK293MSR | Genetically engineered from HEK293 to express the human macrophage scavenger receptor | Strongly adheres to standard tissue culture plates for dependable results |