Senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining in fish cell lines and primary cultures from several tissues and species, including rainbow trout coelomic fluid and milt.

Cell lines and primary cultures from several teleost tissues and species were stained for senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA β-Gal), revealing four general outcomes. (1) For long-standing fish cell lines that can be considered immortal, little or no SA β-Gal staining was observed, regardless of the culture conditions. (2) For a new walleye cell line from the bulbus arteriosus (WEBA), most cells stained for SA β-Gal even after 40 passages. This suggested that high SA β-Gal activity was a unique property of WEBA, perhaps reflecting their endothelial character, rather than cellular senescence. (3) For cell lines developed from the walleye caudal fin and from somatic cells in rainbow trout coelomic fluid, no SA β-Gal staining was observed in the earliest cultures to over 70 passages later. This suggested that cells from these anatomical sites do not undergo senescence in vitro. (4) By contrast, for cell lines developed from the walleye brain and from somatic cells in rainbow trout milt, most cells in the early-stage cultures stained for SA β-Gal, but as these were developed into cell lines, SA β-Gal-negative cells became dominant. This suggested that if cellular senescence occurred in vitro, this happened early in these cultures and subsequently a few SA β-Gal-negative cells went onto to form the cell line. Overall, the presence of SA β-Gal-positive cells in cultures could be interpreted in several ways, whereas their absence predicted that in these cultures, cells would proliferate indefinitely.