SiHa Cells

SiHa cells are a human cervical squamous cell carcinoma cell line that has been widely used in research for several decades. They were isolated from primary uterine biopsy fragments from a 55-year-old female Japanese patient with squamous cell carcinoma. This cell line is of great interest to researchers studying cervical cancer and other related diseases due to their unique genetic characteristics. SiHa cells have been found to express the p53+ and pRB+ genes, which are involved in cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, and tumor suppression. These genes make SiHa cells an ideal model for studying the molecular mechanisms of cancer development and progression. Additionally, SiHa cells are a suitable transfection host, making them an excellent tool for gene expression studies. SiHa cells have a hypertriploid karyotype, with an average chromosome number between 69 and 72. The SiHa cells are HPV-16 positive, showing integration of 1 to 2 copies of the viral genome per cell. Cells are tumorigenic, forming poorly differentiated epidermoid carcinoma (grade III) in nude mice. This makes them an excellent model for studying cancer progression and testing anti-cancer drugs. SiHa cell line expresses various isoenzymes, including AK-1, ES-D, G6PD, GLO-I, Me-2, PGM1, and PGM3. Electron microscopy revealed abundant tonofilaments in the cytoplasm and desmosomes at the cell junctions. The growth properties of SiHa cells are adherent, with a doubling time of 17 hours in 10% FBS media and 21 hours in 5% FBS media. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) expression is present in 92% of SiHa cells, indicating their epithelial origin. They show strong cytokeratin expression but no vimentin expression.