CELL CULTURES FROM MARINE INVERTEBRATES: THE STATE

CELL CULTURES FROM MARINE INVERTEBRATES: THE STATE OF THE ART
V. Matranga
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare “Alberto
Monroy”, Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Progenitor somatic cells routinely replace damaged and senescent cells for the maintenance of
organs and tissues. In vitro clonal propagation of cell types from different origins had lead to
stabilized cell lines of a variety of vertebrates, insects and terrestrial worms. This is not the case for
marine invertebrates: all attempts to maintain proliferating marine invertebrate cell lineages in vitro
have so far failed. One of the reasons could be found in the fact that little is known for the nature of
cells and molecular pathways involved in cell regeneration and differentiation in marine
invertebrates. Thus, in vitro approaches may elucidate cell types features and differentiation
pathways in marine invertebrates. Studies should be promoted in order to explore cell culturing of
marine organisms from different phyla and various cell types and reveal ubiquitous mechanisms
involved in proliferation and differentiation. An overview on cell culturing conditions and their
results in most marine invertebrates will be given with a particular eye on sea urchin immunocompetent cells. A few strategies that might lead to propagation of cells in culture will be
discussed. In addition, the recent publication of the complete genome of the sea urchin, first genome
sequenced among marine invertebrates, might give hints for the underpinning of invertebrate cell
culture stabilization.