Establishment and characterization of a liver cell line from silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) for studying fish health

Abstract Fish cell lines have become a useful tool to study in resource conservation, genetic breeding, diseases control, and environmental pollutants detection. The silver pomfret ( Pampus argenteus ) is a high‐valued marine fish species in aquaculture, which is seriously threatened by various fish diseases. In this study, a new cell line derived from P. argenteus liver (PaL) was established and characterized. PaL cells mainly consisted of fibroblast‐like morphology and multiplied well in Leibovitz's L‐15 medium supplemented with 15% foetal bovine serum and 3 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor at 22°C. Amplification of the Cyt b gene confirmed that the origin of PaL cells as P. argenteus . Chromosome analysis revealed that PaL cells had a diploid Karyotyp. The PaL cells were efficiently transfected with pEGFP‐N3 plasmids, indicating its potential application in foreign gene manipulation studies. The PaL cells were found to be susceptible to red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV) and the expression of immune‐related gene ( TLR5 ) and apoptosis‐related genes ( Bax , Cyt c3 , CASP9 ) were upregulated. Furthermore, lipopolysaccharide and palmitic acid (PA) treatments decreased cell viability and up‐regulated the expression of inflammation related genes ( IL‐8 , IL‐1β ). Meanwhile, PA incubation induced cell apoptosis by Bcl‐2‐regulated caspase activation. In conclusion, the newly established PaL cell line will be an appropriate in vitro tool for viral propagation and immune response.