Establishment and characterization of a novel lung cell line derived from the common bottlenose dolphin

• Published in: In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. 98 - 105
• Main Authors: Tashiro, Kaede, Hikobe, Kyosuke, Segawa, Takao, Suzuki, Miwa, Maeda, Ken, Itou, Takuya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2024; Society for In Vitro Biology
• Subjects: Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Antigen T (large); antigens; Aquatic mammals; Biological properties; Biological samples; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bottle-Nosed Dolphin - metabolism; Bottle-Nosed Dolphin - virology; Cell Biology; Cell Culture; Cell Line; cell lines; Cytology; Developmental Biology; Diving behavior; Dolphins; fetal bovine serum; Gene expression; genes; Immortalization; Immune response; Immune system; Immunostimulation; Interferon; interferons; Life Sciences; Lung; Lungs; Macaca mulatta polyomavirus 1; Marine mammals; Morphology; Pathogenesis; Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid; Proteins; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory physiology; Respiratory system; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Stem Cells; TLR3 protein; TLR4 protein; Toll-like receptor 3; Toll-like receptor 4; Toll-like receptors; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tursiops truncatus; Viral infections; SV40; Cell culture; Cell line; Bottlenose dolphin; Lung
• DOI: 10.1007/s11626-023-00831-w
• ISSN: 1071-2690; 1543-706X

Cetaceans are specialized marine mammals with a unique respiratory system adapted for diving behavior. Furthermore, respiratory diseases are commonly observed in these mammals. Nevertheless, much of their respiratory physiology remains unknown due to the limited supply and poor quality of their biological samples for research. In this study, we established a novel lung cell line, dLu, derived from the common bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ), which can prove useful in cetacean research, including for understanding the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases in cetaceans. The cells were cultured in a simple medium consisting of Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The morphology of the cells was fibroblast-like. dLu was produced by transfecting the simian virus 40 large T antigen into primary cultured cells. Although dLu exhibited approximately 80 cell divisions, it was unable to achieve complete immortalization, as the cells stopped proliferating beyond this number. dLu cells expressed toll-like receptor 3 but not toll-like receptor 4. Immunostimulation with poly(I:C) altered the gene expressions of interferon beta 1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in dLu cells. In summary, dLu established in this study is a novel cetacean cell resource that can be easily cultured and is a useful in vitro tool in cetacean research, particularly for studying host immune responses in the lungs.