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Comment
. 2025 Nov 14;15(52):44437-44438.
doi: 10.1039/d5ra00388a. eCollection 2025 Nov 11.

Comment on "Design, synthesis, anticancer activity and molecular docking of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives" by J.-X. Lu, H.-R. Lan, D. Zeng, J.-Y. Song, Y.-T. Hao, A.-P. Xing, A. Shen, and J. Yuan, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 231-243

Ralf Weiskirchen  1
Affiliations
Comment

Comment on "Design, synthesis, anticancer activity and molecular docking of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives" by J.-X. Lu, H.-R. Lan, D. Zeng, J.-Y. Song, Y.-T. Hao, A.-P. Xing, A. Shen, and J. Yuan, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 231-243

Ralf Weiskirchen. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

This comment addresses significant limitations in the study by Lu et al. (RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 231-243), which investigates the anticancer activity of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives. It highlights the misidentification and contamination of cell lines used in the research, specifically BGC-823, BEL-7402, and HL-7702, which are derived from HeLa cells rather than being true representations of human gastric cancer, human hepatoma, or normal liver cells. The letter emphasizes the need for caution when interpreting findings related to cell state (normal versus tumor) due to these discrepancies, as they may significantly affect conclusions regarding efficacy and safety profiles in anticancer research.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author is a member of the International Cell Line Authentication Committee (ICLAC), which aims to increase the visibility of false or misidentified cell lines. The committee also promotes awareness and authentication testing as effective ways to combat the use of misidentified cells in biomedical research.

Comment in

Comment on

References

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    1. Ye F. Chen C. Qin J. Liu J. Zheng C. Genetic profiling reveals an alarming rate of cross-contamination among human cell lines used in China. FASEB J. 2015;29:4268–4272. - PubMed
    1. Huang Y. Liu Y. Zheng C. Shen C. Investigation of cross-contamination and misidentification of 278 widely used tumor cell lines. PLoS One. 2017;12:e0170384. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bian X. Yang Z. Feng H. Sun H. Liu Y. A combination of species identification and STR profiling identifies cross-contaminated cells from 482 human tumor cell lines. Sci. Rep. 2017;7:9774. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shao T. Chen Y. L. Stop using the misidentified cell line LO2 as a human hepatocyte. J. Hepatol. 2024;80:e200–e201. - PubMed

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