Alzheimer’s Disease Models: Which cell lines are driving research forward?
5
Min Read
In this blog:
- Which cell lines are highly cited in Alzheimer’s Disease research?
- Discover which specialist models are seeing high citation counts
- Download data on the ten most cited cell lines
CiteAb collects data on how reagents have been used in the scientific literature, powering a search engine for scientists and market data and citation provision services for suppliers.
Which cell lines are driving Alzheimer’s Disease Research forward?
Today, we share an analysis of our quantitative, citation-based database to uncover the cell lines being widely referenced in Alzheimer’s related publications.
We discover a mixture of widely used cell lines (HEK293T, HeLa) as well as specialist models supporting more targeted areas of research including neuroinflammation, the blood brain barrier and more, top the list.
The data behind this analysis
Our cell lines and experimental models database covers over 150 suppliers and 680k citations from preprints, open and closed access publications. This data is collected using patent-protected text mining technology combined with human reviewing for maximum accuracy.
For this analysis we limited analysis to publications that had been attributed to Alzheimer’s Disease Research. We covered cell line citation data for the past five years.
Highly Cited Alzheimer’s Disease Models
Alzheimer’s Disease models include primary cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, organoids, animal models, as well as the focus of this analysis: immortalised cell lines.
Drilling down to the most cited cell lines over the past five years, we saw that nine of the top ten were human derived.
We also noted that there researchers were referencing a mixture of more generalist cell lines, as well as specialist tools, in their Alzheimer’s work.
We’ve picked out a few standout examples from the top 20 below.
We also provide some context on how they’re used and what that signals for your portfolio and sales strategy.
Which cell lines are supporting the most Alzheimer’s Disease research?
Widely used cell lines
SH-SY5Y
Leading the way, SH-SY5Y claimed around 20% of the share for Alzheimer’s Disease research over the past five years.
This cell line is a human-derived neuroblastoma cell line, used across the research community to study neurodegenerative diseases. Given their ‘neuroblast-like morphology’ and expression of immature neuronal markers, they are excellent model systems, in spite of maintenance challenges. [1]
Interestingly, in our ‘Top 100 Cited Cell Line’ analysis – which analysed the cell line market in its entirety to uncover the most referenced products – we also saw that SH-SY5Y featured in the top 20. This goes to show its widespread impact for the research community.
The top cited SH-SY5Y cell line on the CiteAb search engine is from ATCC.. The second most cited from ECACC also sees hundreds of citations. You can learn more about our cell line search engine here.
HEK293T, and variants
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the HEK293T cell line was widely cited in Alzheimer’s Disease research with around 7% share. This is one of the most widely used cell lines across life science research, as a tool that is easy to genetically modify and grow.
In fact, in our Top 100 Cited Cell Line report HEK293T topped the list as the most referenced cell line across life science publications. In this analysis, we noted it saw an increase with around 8% of the total share for cell lines in the market.
With over 11,000 citations, the top cited HEK293T product on CiteAb is from ATCC.
Specialist model systems shaping Alzheimer’s Disease research
Tau RD P301S FRET Biosensor
Dveloped by the Diamond Group at the University of Texas, engineered from HEK293T cells, this cell line is a powerful quantification tool used in Alzheimer’s Disease research.
Alzheimer’ s associated Tau can aggregate in the brain, and spread via ‘seeding’ – a mechanism not currently completely understood. These engineered cell lines express aggregation-prone versions of these proteins, tau repeat domains, fused to fluorescent proteins. This enables quantification upon aggregation. [2]
Its inclusion in the top 10 cited cell lines for Alzheimer’s Disease demonstrates the power of specialist models in gaining commercial traction.
The version of this cell line from ATCC sees over 100 citations on the CiteAb search.
HMC3 and BV-2
HMC3 and BV-2 are human and mouse microglial cell lines with shares of over 4% and over 1%, respectively. They are common models for studying neuroinflammation, which is increasingly coming to the fore as a factor in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis. [3]
Their joint appearance as highly cited cell lines reflects the field’s increasing focus on glial biology alongside neuronal mechanisms. It also shows the value of having both human and mouse models available.
The top cited BV-2 cell line on CiteAb was from the Interlab Cell Line Collection.
bEND.3
The bEND.3 cell line, derived from brain tissue in mice, is used in blood brain barrier modelling. This is an essential process to understand for drug delivery. On top of this, its dysfunction has been linked to Alzheimer’s Disease pathology. [4]
The top cited cell line on CiteAb for bEND.3 is from ATCC.
What this cell line data means for suppliers
Overall, our citation data shows that cell lines used in Alzheimer’s research extend beyond common, widely known products.
For suppliers, this means that portfolio and content strategy built solely around these products risks missing where a meaningful portion of researcher demand is.
Plus, if you’re marketing other reagent types – such as antibodies – for Alzheimer’s Disease research, you want to ensure you are characterising them in the most appropriate models. This citation data can help ensure your catalogue is competitive and relevant, by giving researchers the evidence they need to use your product.
For further cell line analysis, get in touch to learn more about our market data services here.
Below, you can freely download data covering the ten most cited cell lines in Alzheimer’s Research and their share.
Finally, if you’ll be attending AAIC this week, do drop us an email to set up a meeting.
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References
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-55516-5
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9836052/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-024-01104-7
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10671257/
