# UT-7
**UT-7** (also written UT7; Cellosaurus accession CVCL_2233) is a human megakaryoblastic (leukemia of platelet-forming [bone marrow cells](https://www.edgepedia.org/bone-marrow-cell)) leukemia cell line established in 1991 from the bone marrow of a 64-year-old Japanese man with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML M7), and it depends on the cytokines GM-CSF, interleukin-3, or erythropoietin for growth and survival.[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/) • [2](https://cellbank.nibn.go.jp/~cellbank/en/search_res_det.cgi?ID=9388) • [3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) Because its survival is tied to externally supplied cytokines, it has served as a model system for studying how individual growth factors drive hematopoietic cells toward erythroid, myeloid, or megakaryocytic fates.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Established from the bone marrow of a 64-year-old Japanese man with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia; published in *Cancer Research* 51:341-348 (1991)[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/) • [3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) |
| Cytokine dependence | Absolute dependence on interleukin-3, GM-CSF, or erythropoietin for growth and survival[2](https://cellbank.nibn.go.jp/~cellbank/en/search_res_det.cgi?ID=9388) |
| Doubling time | ~36-48 hours (original publication); ~70 hours (DSMZ ACC-137)[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) |
| Notable mutation | TP53 deletion c.783_919del137[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) |
| Sublines | UT-7/Epo, UT-7/GM, and UT-7/TPO, each adapted to a different cytokine[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) • [4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/) |
| Differentiation | Multipotent: Epo induces an erythroid program (GPA expression), GM-CSF a myeloid program (CD33 expression)[5](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712065282X) |
| Panels | Included in the Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap, with CCLE) and the LL-100 blood cancer cell line panel[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) |
## Establishment and phenotype
The line was established by Norio Komatsu and colleagues at Jichi Medical School in Tochigi, Japan, from the bone marrow of a patient with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia.[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/) Surface marker analysis showed that most cells reacted with monoclonal antibodies against platelet glycoprotein Ib (CD42b), glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (CD41a), CD13, CD33, and glycophorin A, a mixture of megakaryocytic and erythroid markers.[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/) In response to phorbol myristate acetate, platelet factor 4 and beta-thromboglobulin, proteins specifically synthesized during megakaryocyte maturation, increased dramatically in the cells.[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/)
The defining characteristic is cytokine dependence. UT-7 cells do not grow without an exogenous growth factor; they require GM-CSF, interleukin-3, or erythropoietin (Epo) for both proliferation and survival.[2](https://cellbank.nibn.go.jp/~cellbank/en/search_res_det.cgi?ID=9388) Standard culture uses Iscove's modified Dulbecco's medium with 10% fetal calf serum and 1 ng/mL of recombinant human GM-CSF at 5% CO2, and the JCRB Cell Bank advises passaging before the density reaches 5 × 105 cells/mL, at which point viability declines rapidly.[2](https://cellbank.nibn.go.jp/~cellbank/en/search_res_det.cgi?ID=9388) Reported doubling times differ between sources: about 36 to 48 hours in the original publication and about 70 hours in the DSMZ record.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233)
## Multipotency and cytokine-directed differentiation
UT-7 is described as a multipotent cell line in which Epo or GM-CSF can induce erythroid or myeloid programs of differentiation, assessed by glycophorin A (GPA) or CD33 expression respectively.[5](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712065282X) In the presence of GM-CSF plus Epo, GPA expression matches that obtained with GM-CSF alone, so the GM-CSF effect dominates over Epo in directing differentiation.[5](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712065282X) A later study showed that GM-CSF inhibits Epo-induced erythroid differentiation without downregulating the Epo receptor as the mechanism.[5](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712065282X)
The parental line cannot proliferate continuously in Epo alone, which motivated the isolation of Epo-dependent derivatives.[6](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8513868/) Comparing the parental line with the Epo-dependent subline UT-7 Epo, the subline carried about one-sixth the number of Epo-binding sites (2,400 ± 3 versus 13,800 ± 300 per cell) and expressed higher levels of globin genes, with alpha-globin and clearly detectable globin chains present only in UT-7 Epo.[6](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8513868/)
## Sublines
Several sublines derived from UT-7 are in wide use, each adapted to a specific cytokine:[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) • [4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/)
- **UT-7/GM**, isolated after long-term culture with GM-CSF, is capable of differentiation to erythroid and megakaryocytic lineages on treatment with Epo and thrombopoietin respectively.[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/) It is described as a tri-factor dependent hematopoietic cell line and has been used to study transcription factors such as TEL/ETV6 in erythroid differentiation.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11159770/)
- **UT-7/Epo** is a subclone maintained continuously in medium containing Epo (1 U/mL in one described culture scheme).[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006497120674377)
- **UT-7/TPO** is maintained in medium containing thrombopoietin (10 ng/mL in one described scheme), and TPO stimulates mature megakaryocytic features in this line.[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006497120674377) • [9](https://www.chemotaxis.semmelweis.hu/CHTXhpg/Bookshelf/Model-cells/Platelets%20and%20Megakaryocytes%20Vol%201-Functional%20Assays.pdf)
Because the parental line is cytokine dependent, it is a convenient background for introducing foreign receptors and testing their signaling: wild-type and mutant thrombopoietin receptor (mpl) constructs introduced into UT-7 showed that TPO can drive megakaryocytic differentiation, with [polyploid cells](https://www.edgepedia.org/polyploid-cell) appearing when cells were shifted from Epo to TPO, and that the proliferation and maturation functions of mpl can be uncoupled by mutation.[10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC231236/) UT-7 transfectants expressing the murine TPO receptor were also used to show that thrombopoietin activates a STAT5-like factor.[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC398403/?page=2)
## Molecular characteristics
UT-7 carries a TP53 mutation, the deletion c.783_919del137, reported in a survey of p53 gene mutations in human myeloid leukemia cell lines.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) The line is microsatellite stable (MSS).[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) An ancestry estimate from genome-wide data assigns 82.57% of the genome to North East Asian origin, 12% to South East Asian, 3.36% to South European, and 2.07% to African, consistent with its Japanese donor population.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) The line is male and has a published STR (short tandem repeat) profile used for authentication, with minor allele discrepancies between repositories at markers such as D19S433 and vWA.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233)
## Use in research
UT-7 appears in the Cancer Dependency Map project, which includes the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, and in the LL-100 panel of 100 cell lines for blood cancer studies.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) A 2023 review of cell line choice in acute myeloid leukemia research lists it among the options considered.[3](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233) The line is also notably difficult to transfect, and a 2022 study used it as a model to systematically optimize a gene electrotransfer protocol.[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/) Its cytokine dependence makes it, in the words of that study, a useful tool for establishing new UT-7 sublines selected by growth factor requirement.[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/)
## References
1. [Komatsu N, Nakauchi H, Miwa A, et al. (1991). Establishment and characterization of a human leukemic cell line with megakaryocytic features: dependency on granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 3, or erythropoietin for growth and survival. Cancer Res. 51:341-348.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1824823/)
2. [JCRB Cell Bank, JCRB4084 UT-7 detailed information.](https://cellbank.nibn.go.jp/~cellbank/en/search_res_det.cgi?ID=9388)
3. [Cellosaurus cell line UT-7 (CVCL_2233).](https://www.cellosaurus.org/CVCL_2233)
4. [Systemic Optimization of Gene Electrotransfer Protocol Using Hard-to-Transfect UT-7 Cell Line as a Model (PMC9687892).](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687892/)
5. [Inhibition of the Erythropoietin-Induced Erythroid Differentiation by GM-CSF in the Human UT-7 Cell Line Is Not Due To a Negative Regulation of the Erythropoietin Receptor.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712065282X)
6. [Dependence for the proliferative response to erythropoietin on an established erythroid differentiation program in a human hematopoietic cell line, UT-7 (PMID 8513868).](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8513868/)
7. [TEL/ETV6 accelerates erythroid differentiation and inhibits megakaryocytic maturation in a human leukemia cell line UT-7/GM (PMC11159770).](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11159770/)
8. [Developmental Expression of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Associated With Thrombopoietin-Dependent Megakaryocytic Differentiation.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006497120674377)
9. [Megakaryocytic Cell Lines, in Platelets and Megakaryocytes, Vol. 1: Functional Assays.](https://www.chemotaxis.semmelweis.hu/CHTXhpg/Bookshelf/Model-cells/Platelets%20and%20Megakaryocytes%20Vol%201-Functional%20Assays.pdf)
10. [Functional regions of the mouse thrombopoietin receptor cytoplasmic domain (PMC231236).](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC231236/)
11. [Thrombopoietin activates a STAT5-like factor in hematopoietic cells (PMC398403).](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC398403/?page=2)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Biological foundations › Cell biology › Cell culture methods › Hematopoietic and lymphoid cell lines*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license