3T3 cells

The original 3T3 cell line (3T3-Swiss albino) was established in 1962 by two scientists then at the Department of Pathology in the New York University School of Medicine, George Todaro and Howard Green.

Todaro and Green originally obtained their 3T3 cells from Swiss albino mouse embryo tissue.

[1] Later, as a principal investigator position at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, Todaro repeated the isolation procedure from the NIH Swiss mouse embryo with his students and established NIH-3T3 cell line.

[2] The '3T3' designation refers to the abbreviation of "3-day transfer, inoculum 3×105 cells."

Since then, several cell lines have been established with this procotol:[3] Swiss 3T3 can be inhibited by temazepam and other benzodiazepines.