In article <7fidum$3hr$1 at nnrp1.dejanews.com>, Chris Hebertson
<jojo_shabadoo at my-dejanews.com> wrote:
> Can someone please tell me what COS cells are, and why they would be useful
> for transfection?
> Please reply to my main e-mail address (cfh at fullnet.net)
> Thank you VERY much...
> Christopher Hebertson
They are monkey kidney cells (originally the CV-1 cell line)
transformed with SV40. You will see COS-1 and COS-7 lines
mentioned in the literature but these are actually the same
(or *were* the same) (there's an interesting anecdote associated
with that).
Check the description at http://www.atcc.org
Yes, they are *great* for transfection. I have used calcium
phosphate and liposome methods and have seen nearly quantitative
transfection (generally >75% of cells). If you use either a
CMV or SV40 based promoter the T-antigen in the cells will
drive transcription very strongly. You can also get episomal
maintenance of suitable plasmids.
Bernard
--
Bernard P. Murray, PhD
Dept. Cell. Mol. Pharmacol., UCSF, San Francisco, USA
