Abstract: Objective To investigate enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection characters on the tree shrew kidney cells. Methods The primary kidney cells from tree shrew were isolated by tissue culture. The cell was passaged and morphology was observed regularly. The indirect immunofluorescence identification was performed by using keratin 18. Tree shrew kidney cells were infected with EV71, cell lesions were observed by inverted microscope, viral load was detected by real-time PCR. Vero cells were used as control. Results Tree shrew primary kidney cells can be rapidly prepared by tissue culture and can be passaged easily. The kidney cells are mainly spindle-shaped and show paving - stones structure after adherent. They were identified as kidney epithelial cell by immunofluorescence assay. Tree shrew kidney cells can be infect with EV71 and showed significant cytopathic effect (CPE) such as rounding, falling off and lysis. The viral protein was observed by immunofluorescence. Viral load of was up to 10⁵ copies/mL. The CPE and proliferation trends were similar to that of Vero cell. Conclusion EV71 can infect tree shrew kidney cells under in vitro condition, and the cell assay can provide a platform for drug screening and infection mechanism research of EV71.

Key words: Tree shrew, Kidney cells, Enterovirus 71