title: Generation and Characterization of Eptesicus fuscus (Big brown bat) kidney cell lines immortalized using the Myotis polyomavirus large T-antigen.
abstract: It is speculated that bats are important reservoir hosts for numerous viruses, with 27 viral families reportedly detected in bats. Majority of these viruses have not been isolated and there is little information regarding their biology in bats. Establishing a well-characterized bat cell line supporting the replication of bat-borne viruses would facilitate the analysis of virus-host interactions in an in vitro model. Currently, few bat cell lines have been developed and only Tb1-Lu, derived from Tadarida brasiliensis is commercially available. Here we describe a method to establish and immortalize big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) kidney (Efk3) cells using the Myotis polyomavirus T-antigen. Subclones of this cell line expressed both epithelial and fibroblast markers to varying extents. Cell clones expressed interferon beta in response to poly(I:C) stimulation and supported the replication of four different viruses, namely, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), porcine epidemic diarrhea coronavirus (PED-CoV), Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV). To our knowledge, this is the first bat cell line from a northern latitude insectivorous bat developed using a novel technology. The cell line has the potential to be used for isolation of bat viruses and for studying virus-bat interactions in culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Arinjay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rapin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, MT, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Center (VIDO-InterVac), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Griebel
authors.affiliation: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Center (VIDO-InterVac), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, MT, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Munster
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Electronic address: vikram.misra@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Misra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002460:Cell Line; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002685:Chiroptera; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000821:virology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000821:virology; D007633:Keratins / Q000235:genetics; D007668:Kidney; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000254:growth & development; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D053485:Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus / Q000254:growth & development; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000254:growth & development; D018116:Vesiculovirus / Q000254:growth & development; D014746:Vimentin / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming; D014746:Vimentin; D007633:Keratins
keywords: Big brown bat; Cell-line; HSV; Kidney; MERS-CoV; PED-CoV; VSV