Establishment and characterization of permanent cell lines from Oryzias dancena embryos

Abstract

The development of species-specific fish cell lines has become a valuable tool for biological research. In recent years, marine medaka Oryzias dancena has been recognized as a good experimental model fish but there are no reports of establishment of cell lines from this fish. In this study, two cell lines from O. dancena blastula embryos were established from 41 total trials (4.9%). The two cell lines displayed typical in vitro morphology and have been cultured for >121 passages, which corresponds to 293 days. The doubling times of the cell lines were 29.84 and 28.59 h, respectively, and both possessed the potential to expand in a clonal manner, albeit with significant differences between the two cell lines. The absence of any of the four main medium supplements; i.e., fish serum, fetal bovine serum, basic fibroblast growth factor, and medaka embryo extract, significantly inhibited growth. The proportion of cells possessing normal chromosome number was 45% and 46.7% of the cell lines, respectively. Taken together, two cell lines that proliferate continuously were established from marine medaka and these cell lines may provide a basic tool for characterizing the unique features of this fish species. © The Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science.