title: Establishment of an immortal cynomolgus macaque fibroblast cell line for propagation of cynomolgus macaque cytomegalovirus (CyCMV).
abstract: Cynomolgus macaques are widely used as an animal model in biomedical research. We have established an immortalized cynomolgus macaque fibroblast cell line (MSF-T) by transducing primary dermal fibroblasts isolated from a 13-year-old male cynomolgus macaque with a retrovirus vector expressing human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). The MSF-T cells showed increased telomerase enzyme activity and reached over 200 in vitro passages compared to the non-transduced dermal fibroblasts, which reached senescence after 43 passages. The MSF-T cell line is free of mycoplasma contamination and is permissive to the newly identified cynomolgus macaque cytomegalovirus (CyCMV). CyCMV productively infects MSF-T cells and induces down-regulation of MHC class I expression. The MSF-T cell line will be extremely useful for the propagation of CyCMV and other cynomolgus herspesviruses in host-derived fibroblast cells, allowing for the retention of host-specific viral genes. Moreover, this cell line will be beneficial for many in vitro experiments related to this animal model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON M5G 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: Aruna P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ambagala
authors.forename: Angie K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Jacqueline K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Rosemarie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pilon
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sandstrom
authors.forename: David O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Willer
authors.forename: Kelly S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000254:growth & development*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000821:virology*; D008251:Macaca; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014161:Transduction, Genetic; D014776:Virus Cultivation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase