Application of 3-dimensional culture of shrimp fusion cell line ‘PmLyO-Sf9’ [3D-PmLyO-Sf9] in controlling viral diseases in shrimp: Production of cell-based vaccines and Screening of anti-viral drugs and immunostimulants

Shrimp is the major marine export from Kerala. Viral diseases pose serious threat for shrimp farming, causing severe economic loss. More than 20 shrimp viruses have been reported and new viral diseases are emerging. This demands a quick and effective system to develop virus-specific vaccines and screen potential anti-viral agents and immunostimulants. In vitro cell culture-based approaches provide a promising tool for the same. 3D cultures made a revolution owing to their realistic representation of in vivo conditions, near-normal patterns of gene expression and host-pathogen mechanisms. National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health (NCAAH) has successfully developed a shrimp fusion cell line ‘PmLyO-Sf9’ by hybridizing Penaeus monodon lymphoid cells with metabolically blocked continuous cell line Sf9. Though it is found to be susceptible to different shrimp viral pathogens, it could not support viral propagation in some cases.

Hypothesis: 3D culture of shrimp fusion cell line ‘PmLyO-Sf9’ can mimic the in vivo signalling pathways, biochemical profile, and host-pathogen interactions of the shrimp cells more closely. Hence, it can be developed as a tool for the propagation of viruses, cell-based viral vaccine development and screening of anti-viral drugs and immunostimulant.

Objectives: Selection of an ideal scaffold and establishment of 3D culture of PmLyO-Sf9 cells (3D-PmLyO-Sf9); Evaluation of its susceptibility and ability to propagate different shrimp viruses; Comparative analysis of transcriptome of 3D and 2D cultures of PmLyO-Sf9 cells and in vivo samples, with or without viral challenge; Cell based vaccine production using 3D- PmLyO-Sf9 against different shrimp viruses; Screening of anti-viral drugs and immunostimulants using 2D and 3D- PmLyO-Sf9.

This study will contribute to the production of cell-based viral vaccines against existing and novel shrimp viral pathogens, which can be harnessed for commercial production. It will be the first ever shrimp in vitro system for precise screening of immunostimulants and anti-viral drugs.

Awards/ Honours/ Fellowships/ Scholarships

1. Qualified for Chief Minister’s Nava Kerala Post-Doctoral Fellowship (CMNKPF) in 2023
2. Awarded “Young Scientist for Best e-PPT presentation” at International Virtual Conference on Engineering, Medical, Biomedical and Biological Sciences- IVCEMBBS2020” on 26th Oct 2020, for the presentation titled “ In vitro anti-cancer effect of Crataegus oxyacantha berry extract on hormone receptor positive and triple negative breast cancers via regulation of canonical Wnt signalling pathway”
3. Qualified for the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)-National-Post Doctoral Fellowship (SERB-N-PDF) in 2017
4. Cleared National Eligibility Test (NET) held on 19-06-2011 conducted by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and University Grants Commission (CSIR-UGC), with All India Rank of 32 in 2011
5. Qualified Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET) 2006 conducted by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), GOI, New Delhi and selected for DBT- Junior Research Fellowship (DBT-JRF) and upgraded to DBT-Senior Research Fellow (DBT-SRF) by DBT in 2009
6. Qualified Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2006 with All India Rank of 885 and a GATE score of 375
7. Mahatma Gandhi University 3rd Rank in M.Sc Biotechnology (2005)
8. University of Calicut 3rd Rank in B.Sc Biotechnology (2003)