Expanding virus susceptibility spectrum of MDBK cells by expressing host receptors nectin 4 and TfR

Cell-based vaccine manufacturing is a flexible and cost-effective approach for vaccine production which, however, requires cell adaptation to new vaccine strains. Generating one omnipotent or semi-omnipotent cell line feasible for the production of multiple viruses could help resolve this problem. We previously proposed virus Baltimore subtyping-based choice of receptors and a panel of minimally preferred receptors for the establishment of cells with a broad virus susceptibility spectrum. With the aim of establishing cells sensitive to viruses of livestocks including bovine, ovine and canine, we selected TfR and Nectin 4 from the minimally preferred receptor panel, and successfully sensitized the starting cell line MDBK to CPV and CDV infection. Our study is a preliminary validation of our previously identified associations between host receptor usage and virus Baltimore subtyping. Evidence from more viruses of the same Baltimore subtyping and more starting cell lines need to be used to consolidate our results.