Elimination of mycoplasma from infected leukemia cell lines

The infection of cell lines with mycoplasma can cause severe problems as the contaminants affect virtually every cell parameter. We attempted to eliminate mycoplasma from contaminated cell lines using the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Mycoplasma-infected cell lines were cultured with 10 μg/ml ciprofloxacin for 14 days. The elimination or persistence of mycoplasmal infection was monitored by diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) DNA staining, RNA hybridization test and broth-agar microbiological culturing. Seventeen out of 21 positive cell lines (81%) have been success fully treated using ciprofloxacin