Proteome Profiling of primary human multiple myeloma cells in comparison to the established multiple myeloma cell line RPMI-8226

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a hematologic disease, characterized by the proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM). It is known, that these plasma cells are not able to survive in vitro without the support of feeder-layer cells. However there exist different commercial available MM cell lines which do not need the contact with other cells to survive and can be cultured on their own. Therefore, the question arises if such cell lines can adequately represent MM cells as they occur in vivo. In this study we investigated CD138+ primary human plasma cells, purified by means of the MACS system, as well as the established cell line RPMI-8226. Based on comprehensive proteome profiles of these cells we were able to perform a comparative data analysis of the two cell-systems. We were able to determine significant differences in the protein expression patterns pointing to different cell functions of the primary cells in comparison to the established MM cell line.