PIGCELLS

Project summary:

African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is one of the most significant threats to the global swine industry. The spread of the disease into new regions, including Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, highlights the urgent need for effective control strategies. To date, live attenuated vaccines represent the most promising approach, and several vaccine candidates have recently been shown to provide robust protection against ASFV. However, major challenges remain before such vaccines can reach the market.

One of the most critical needs for the ASFV research community is the availability of cell lines that are permissive to virus infection. Currently, primary porcine alveolar macrophages constitute the most widely used model for ASFV studies, but they are not suitable for large-scale vaccine production. The objective of the PIGCELLS project is to develop ready-to-use porcine cell lines for academic and industrial partners working on ASFV.

To achieve this goal, we will first identify the primary cell populations that are naturally infected by ASFV. We will then exploit the power of single-cell RNA sequencing to identify novel host factors required for viral replication. This knowledge will be used to generate new porcine cell lines that will support mechanistic studies by academic collaborators as well as large-scale industrial applications, including high-throughput compound screening and vaccine strain production.

Partners:

• INRAE-ISP
• INRAE-ONIRIS BIOEPAR
• INSERM-INRAE SBRI

BIOEPAR researchers involved: 

Nicolas Bertho nicolas.bertho@inrae.fr

Coordinator:

Ferdinand Roesch (ISP, INRAE Nouzilly)

Autres informations :

Funding: Programme de Ressourcement France Futur Elevage (F2E-Carnot)