Establishment and characterization of a hepatopancreas cell line from gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) and its susceptibility to several fish viruses

In this study, a new cell line (CHP) from the hepatopancreas of gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) was established by enzymatic digestion and mechanical separation. The cell line has been subcultured for over 90 passages in DMEM medium with 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) at 28 degrees C. Karyotypic analysis revealed that CHP cells were highly aneuploid, with most chromosomes ranging from 130 to 145. CHP cell line could be successfully transfected with the EGFP reporter gene using modified electroporation, with a transfection efficiency of 47.67 %, indicating its potential for exogenous gene expression studies. CHP cells were highly susceptible to Chinese giant salamander iridovirus (GSIV) and spring viraemia of carp virus (SVCV), but resistant to cyprinid herpesvirus 2 (CyHV-2). Both GSIV and SVCV were able to induce stable cytopathic effects (CPEs) in CHP cells continuously for at least 10 passages and remained pathogenic to gibel carp in vivo. In addition, CHP cells retained some characteristics of hepatocytes, and viral infections could affect the activities of glutamicoxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT). These results suggest that the newly established CHP cell line is a useful tool for virology, metabolism, and toxicology studies in fish species.