Primary cell cultures from sea urchin ovaries: a new experimental tool

In the present work, primary cell cultures from ovaries of the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus were developed in order to provide a simple and versatile experimental tool for researches in echinoderm reproductive biology. Ovary cell phenotypes were identified and characterized by different microscopic techniques. Although cell cultures could be produced from ovaries at all stages of maturation, the cells appeared healthier and viable, displaying a higher survival rate, when ovaries at early stages of gametogenesis were used. In terms of culture medium, ovarian cells were successfully cultured in modified Leibovitz-15 medium, whereas poor results were obtained in minimum essential medium Eagle and medium 199. Different substrates were tested, but ovarian cells completely adhered only on poly-L-lysine. To improve in vitro conditions and stimulate cell proliferation, different serum-supplements were tested. Fetal calf serum and an originally developed pluteus extract were detrimental to cell survival, apparently accelerating processes of cell death. In contrast, cells cultured with sea urchin egg extract appeared larger and healthier, displaying an increased longevity that allowed maintaining them for up to 1 month. Overall, our study provides new experimental bases and procedures for producing successfully long-term primary cell cultures from sea urchin ovaries offering a good potential to study echinoid oogenesis in a controlled system and to investigate different aspects of echinoderm endocrinology and reproductive biology.