A Cell Line (HEW) from Embryos of Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinius) and Its Capacity to Tolerate Environmental Extremes

Abstract

Cell lines can be useful experimental tools for studying marine fish, which are often difficult to routinely obtain and maintain in the laboratory. As few cell lines are available from coldwater marine fish, cultures were initiated from late gastrula embryos of haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in Leibovitz's L-15 with fetal bovine serum (FBS). From one culture, a cell line (HEW) emerged that has been grown for close to 100 population doublings, was heteroploid, and expressed telomerase activity, all of which suggest HEW is immortal. Growth occurred only if FBS was present and was optimal at 12 to 18 degrees C. Usually most cells had an epithelial-like morphology, but under some conditions, cells drew up into round central bodies from which radiated cytoplasmic extensions with multiple branches. These neural-like cells appeared within a few hours of cultures being placed at 28 degrees C or being switch to a simple salt solution (SSS). At 28 degrees C, cells died within 24 h. In SSS, HEW cells survived as a monolayer for at least 7 days. The sensitivity of HEW cells to morphological change and their capacity to withstand starvation should make them useful for investigating cellular responses to environmental stresses.

Characterization of two grouper Epinephelus akaara cell lines: Application to studies of Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) propagation and virus–host interaction

“…The establishment of healthy fish cell lines is essential for isolation, identification and characterization of infectious viruses from fishes (Parameswaran et al, 2007;Dong et al, 2008). Although a large number of cell lines (more than 160) have been established, relatively only a few cell lines were derived from marine fish (Fryer and Lannan, 1994;Chen et al, 2003;Bryson et al, 2006;Buonocore et al, 2006;Parameswaran et al, 2007;Zhou et al, 2007). Consequently, susceptible cell lines need to be established from marine fish for use in viral diagnostics.…”

Establishment, Characterization, and Virus Susceptibility of a New Marine Cell Line from Red Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus akaara)

“…In addition, other marine fish cell lines such as the Dicentrarchus labrax embryonic (DLEC) cell line (Buonocore et al, 2006), the piscine SAF-1 cell line (Bejar et al, 2005), the haddock embryos (HEW) cell line (Bryson et al, 2006) have also been established, and many cell lines have been applied in studying epidemiology, molecular genetics, toxicology, and transgenic applications (Ferrero et al, 1998;Hong et al, 1998;Ma et al, 2001;Chen et al, 2003a,b). However, more cell lines from different tissues of grouper will be useful for obtaining this information.…”

Characterization and virus susceptibility of a skin cell line from red-spotted grouper (Epinephelus akaara)

“…Most of the established cell lines are derived from splanchnic organs, such as kidney, liver, brain, heart, spleen, embryo, and swim bladder (Bryson et al 2006;Ku et al 2009;Huang et al 2009;Ou-Yang et al 2010). However, cell lines derived from healthy skin of fish were rare.…”