Generation and characterization of bovine bone marrow-derived macrophage cell line

Macrophages, as the forefront of innate immune defense, have an important role in the host responses to mycobacterial infection. Therefore, a stable macrophage cell line is needed for future bovine immune system research on the bacterial infection. In this study, we established a bovine macrophage cell line by introducing the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene into bovine bone marrow-derived macrophages (bBMMs). The TERT-bBMMs cells expressed macrophage surface antigen (CD11b, CD282) and upregulated expression of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α in response to bacterial invasion. These results demonstrate that this cell line provide reliable cell model system for future studies on interactions between the bovine macrophages and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.