Application of 12C6 Heavy Ion-Irradiated BHK-21 Cells in Production of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine

FMD poses a significant threat to animal husbandry and public health security. This study aims to investigate an innovative method for producing FMD vaccines. Wild-type BHK-21 cells were subjected to heavy ion irradiation. Following the optimization of irradiation parameters, the mutant cell line BHK-7 was selected using the limited dilution method. The concentration of FMDV 146S in the BHK-7 cells was markedly elevated, significantly enhancing FMDV replication. The suspension culture and domestication experiments demonstrated that BHK-7 exhibited characteristics like those of the control BHK-21 cells, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing costs. The metabolic analysis of the BHK-7 suspension cultures indicated that glutamine (GLN) may play a crucial role in FMDV replication, with the addition of an appropriate amount of GLN enhancing viral replication levels. Ten successive generations of BHK-7 cells showed stability in FMDV replication post-domestication, indicating good genetic stability. In this study, we obtained a mutant somatic cell line, BHK-7, which promotes FMDV replication through heavy ion irradiation technology. Through suspension culture domestication and metabolic analysis, this study provides a novel approach and concept for FMD vaccine production, as well as a reference for the development of other vaccine cell lines.