A cell line of bovine origin was immortalized to isolate foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The immortalization was performed by infection of bovine primary epithelial cells with a recombinant retrovirus that overexpressed the human telomerase (hTERT), after primary culture of fetal bovine kidney tissue and removal of fibroblasts. After cloning the immor- talized cell line into single cells, the cloned cell lines were named JNUBK-1, JNUBK-2, JNUBK-3 and JNUBK-4, according to their characteristics. To confirm the epithelial phenotype of the cell lines JNUBK-3 and JNUBK-4, which showed stable proliferation capability over 35 generations after immortalization, the expression of cytokeratin and fibronectin was measured. Finally, the FMDV titer in the JNUBK-3 and JNUBK-4 cell lines was measured and was 800∼2,000 times higher than that of the currently used cell line IRBS-2. In conclusion, more sensitive isolation and production of FMDV became possible through the use of the immortalized JNUBK-3 and JNUBK-4 cell lines.

• Kyong-Leek Jeon(College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University)
• Kyu-Kye Hwang(College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University) Corresponding Author