User:Smnolan89/sandbox

Equine Viral Arteritis (EAV) is the main cause of equine viral arteritis. It’s a globally infectious disease of equines. Anywhere from 10 to 70% of stallions can be infected with EAV and can possibly become carriers. Stallions that are persistently infected are the main source of EAV in all equine populations. The underlying mechanism for EAV is still unknown, and yet to be determined. Persistently infected cell cultures can serve as a model system in isolating the mechanisms of EAV in vitro. This study was undertaken in attempt to develop a model system of persistent EAV in infection cell culture.

Multiple cell lines were used in the study, these included ED cells, EECs, baby hamster kidney cells, rabbit kidney cells, mouse muscle cells, mouse connective tissue cells, human cervix cells (HeLa), and human epidermoid larynx cells. There were two types of HeLa cells used, HeLa-H cells that have a high-passage-number, and HeLa-L cells, which have a low-passage-number. The higher your passage number the older your cells. All cell lines went through eight defining steps that were used in determining the persistents of the EAV virus.

This study confirms that a wider variety of cell lines from species and tissues are susceptible to EAV infection. And it is specifically demonstrated that all of the cells used in the experiment have various degrees of susceptibility to the infection. These could potentially be utilized to identify the cellular receptor or receptors involved in the EAV attachment and entry.

It is shown that the strain of EAV cannot establish infection in the HeLa- L cells, but formed persistent infection in the HeLa-H cells. Implying that the HeLa cells had evolved. The changes were observed on a chromosomal level, however the evolution of cells in and their diversity is lab cell cultures is not an unusual event. The extent of cell diversity in tumors is considerably increased in tumors compared to other tissues, and it appears to the result of enhanced genetic instability of the transformed cells. HeLa cells are originally obtained from a cervical adenocarcinoma and can possibly retain the potential to evolve under certain circumstances.

The data from the experiment shows that “an in vitro cell culture system for EAV persistence” was established. The persistently infect HeLa cells provided a suitable model system in which to study viral and host cell factors involved in the EAV persistence. This could also assist in explaining the mechanisms of EAV in carrier stallions.