development of a clone from established bovine kidney (bk) cell line and evaluation of its sensitivity to parainfluenza type 3 and herpes simplex type 1 viruses.

Background: Application of continuous cell lines has got a special place in the virological researches. These cells are immortal and their chromosomes are aneuploid. Therefore, they can be passage without any limitation. The aim of this research was to choose the best way of producing clone of cells. Methods: in this study, Bovine Kidney (BK) cell line was used to be cloned through limiting dilution method in which Vero cells were used as feeder layer. Vero cells were first cultured in DMEM supplimented with 7% heat inactivated calf serum and after a monolayer were formed, their growth was arrested by Mitomycin C. The cloned cells after incubation were separated and cultured in a new flask. After several experiments different clones were obtained and cultured for further studies. Results: Karyotype of clone cells were determined and compared with original cells. It was shown that cloned cells were more homogenous in early passages and their karyotypes showed less variability than original ones. Cloned and original cells were inoculated with HSV-1 and Parainfluenza virus 3 in order to evaluate its biological abilities. Tissue culture of infectious dose 50 (TCID50) of each virus was calculated and it was shown that there was no significant different between the HSV-1 titers before and after cloning whereas the titer of the Parainfluenza virus 3 was significantly higher in the original cells. Conclusions: Cloned cells of BK showed more stable karyotype and were less sensitive to parainfluenza type-3 virus infection than original BK cells.