MeWo Cells

The MeWo cell line is a fibroblast-like melanoma cell line isolated from the skin of a 78-year-old White male patient with malignant melanoma. These cells exhibit a characteristic morphology that reflects their fibroblastic origin. MeWo cells are valuable in cancer research, particularly for studying melanoma's biological properties and immune interactions. As with other melanoma cell lines, MeWo cells have been instrumental in the study of tumor antigens and their immunogenicity. Various studies have utilized MeWo cells to identify specific surface antigens, which are crucial in understanding how melanoma cells interact with the immune system. One of the notable properties of MeWo cells is their ability to support the growth of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) isolates, with optimal growth conditions at 32°C, although they can still sustain VZV growth at 36°C. This makes the MeWo cell line particularly useful in virological research, especially in the context of viral replication and pathogenesis studies under varying temperature conditions. Additionally, MeWo cells are tumorigenic, as they can form tumors when injected into nude mice, a property that underscores their utility in in vivo tumorigenicity studies. This characteristic, coupled with their responsiveness to viral infection, highlights MeWo cells as a versatile model for both cancer and infectious disease research. Studies involving the MeWo cell line have also explored the expression of melanoma-associated antigens, where MeWo has been used as a reference cell line in absorption assays to identify unique and common antigens across different melanoma samples. The antigenic profile of MeWo cells, as identified in these studies, includes antigens that are shared with other melanoma cell lines, as well as those that may be unique to this cell line, contributing to the broader understanding of melanoma immunology.