Paper II
2018 July (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min

Question

Tissue cell line culture

Q62 marksShort Notes

Answer

Tissue (cell line) culture is the technique of growing/maintaining cells outside the body in a controlled artificial environment — one of three classical methods for propagating viruses (alongside embryonated eggs and laboratory animal inoculation), central to diagnostic virology, vaccine production, and research.

Types: primary cell culture (freshly derived from tissue, limited passage capability, retains normal diploid karyotype); diploid cell strain (e.g., WI-38, MRC-5 — retains diploid karyotype, extended but finite passage, used for certain vaccines); continuous (established) cell line (e.g., HeLa, Vero cells — derived from malignant/transformed cells, indefinite passage capability, aneuploid karyotype).

Detection of viral growth: cytopathic effect (CPE) — visible morphological changes (rounding, syncytium formation, cell lysis); haemadsorption — for viruses causing minimal CPE but expressing haemagglutinin on the infected cell surface; interference — detecting a non-cytopathic virus by its ability to block a second, known cytopathic virus.

Applications: viral isolation/diagnosis, vaccine production (many modern vaccines grown in Vero cells), antiviral susceptibility testing, and research.

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