Isolation and Characterization of Equine Lymph Node Endothelial Cells.

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Genomics

Background:

• In vitro models are crucial for biological research but equine models are scarce.
• Existing models do not fully represent equine physiology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a novel primary cell culture from equine lymph nodes.
• To characterize these cells for potential in vitro applications.
• To address the lack of specialized equine models in research.

Main Methods:

• Primary cell culture established from lymph node tissue of a horse with multisystemic eosinophilic epitheliotropic disease.
• Growth curve analysis and optimization of culture conditions.
• Immunofluorescence assay for biomarker detection (CD31, ZO-1, CD79, Beta-catenin, E-cadherin, LYE-1).
• Whole-genome sequencing for species confirmation and variation analysis against EquCab3.0.

Main Results:

• Successfully established primary equine cell cultures from lymph nodes.
• Immunofluorescence confirmed endothelial origin of the cells.
• Whole-genome sequencing verified equine origin and provided genomic variation data.
• Optimal growth conditions for the primary cells were determined.

Conclusions:

• This study reports the first establishment of primary equine lymph node cells.
• These cells represent a valuable new in vitro model for equine research.
• The model can be utilized for drug response, molecular pathway, and environmental effect testing in horses.