Evaluation of BHK-21 Cell Line for Specific Viruses by Two Different PCR Methods

The selection of suitable cell cultures for use in the biological industry as well as research and diagnostic studies is critical. One of the factors affecting cell culture that can affect the results of studies is the contamination with viral agents. Therefore, efforts to preserve the health of cell cultures from contamination sound logical, and the use of virus-free cells is vital in research and diagnostic studies as well as in the manufacturing industries. For this purpose, it is crucial to use fast and correct diagnostic methods to detect the presence of critical viral contaminants in cells. Moreover, the use of susceptible diagnostic methods is also doubly important, especially in the case of contaminants that may remain hidden. Therefore, in this study, the BHK-21C5 cell line, one of the most widely used cells in the production and quality control of biological products and virological studies, was examined in terms of contamination with the most important viruses such as BVD and BLV. Detection of possible contaminants by using two-step RT-PCR to detect the 5' UTR portion of the BVD virus. Moreover, Nested PCR was carried out to detect the BLV virus using the gp51 env gene region. Also, an Flk cell line and Hela cell line that were consistently contaminated with the BLV virus were used as positive controls in Nested PCR. Due to the absence of bands in the BHK-21C5 cell column and the bandwidth observed in the positive control column (BVDV) in the range of 283 bp, non-contaminating of the cell clone with the BVD virus was proved. Also, no band was observed in well related to BHK-21C5 cell, and no cell clone contamination with BLV was confirmed, and in wells related to the positive controls (Flk and Hela cells), the bands have seen in the range 444bp. So, the results showed that no obvious or covert viral contamination effect was observed in the cell clone studied. Hence, the use of this cell line seems unobstructed in the quality control and production of biological products and research and diagnostic studies.