Jurkat cells are an immortalized line of human T lymphocyte cells that are used to study acute T cell leukemia, T cell signaling, and the expression of various chemokine receptors susceptible to viral entry, particularly HIV. Jurkat cells can produce interleukin 2, and are used in research involving the susceptibility of cancers to drugs and radiation.

History

The Jurkat cell line (originally called JM) was established in the mid-1970s from the peripheral blood of a 14-year-old boy with T cell leukemia. Different derivatives of the Jurkat cell line that have been mutated to lack certain genes can now be obtained from cell culture banks.

Examples of derivatives

Cell line contamination

Jurkat J6 cells have been found to produce a xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV) (referred to as XMRV) that could potentially affect experimental outcomes. There is no evidence that this virus can infect humans. This infection may also change the virulence and tropism of the virus by way of phenotypic mixing and/or recombination.