Live-Cell Imaging: Cell Motility

Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney Epithelial Cells (MDBK Line)

The Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) line was derived from the renal tissue of an adult steer (Bos Taurus) in 1957. The epithelial line was discovered to be infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in the early 1970s, but in 1982 a subset of the cells was found to be free of the infection, and subsequently this stock came to be the official basis of all future MDBK cells. Thus, modern MDBK cell cultures are BVDV free, though they are susceptible to it and a number of other viruses, including vesicular stomatitis (Indiana strain), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus, bovine parvovirus, bovine adenovirus I and III, and parainfluenza virus 3. MDBK cells exhibit resistance to poliovirus 2 and are negative for reverse transcriptase. The epithelial line is utilized in laboratories around the world for a variety of applications, but is perhaps most significant for its use in growing attenuated viruses for vaccine production.

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 1 - Small colonies of MDBK cells gradually impinge upon the wayward migratory behavior of an independent cell. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (20.6 hour time-lapse sequence; 62 seconds - 26.10 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 2 - The surface activity of the MDBK cells can seem erratic, with lamellipodia and filopodia often appearing and disappearing in unpredictable ways. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (19.6 hour time-lapse sequence; 59 seconds - 24.70 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 3 - Most of the cells in a colony of Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells actively migrate as group, but a seemingly adventurous cell successfully breaks away. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (22.6 hour time-lapse sequence; 68 seconds - 28.70 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 4 - As each broad lamellipodium is stretched out over the culture medium, sites of close adhesion to the substratum, called focal adhesions, are formed. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (7.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 21 seconds - 8.88 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 5 - Newly formed daughter cells assume distinct polarities and separate from each other to begin migrating along their own paths. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (27.3 hour time-lapse sequence; 82 seconds - 34.20 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 6 - Mitochondria are not static entities, as they sometimes seem to be portrayed in textbooks, but are rather dynamic organelles that carry out significant intracellular movements. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (25.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 75 seconds - 31.30 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 7 - The overall rearward movement of membrane ruffles causes any particles that adhere to the surface of a motile cell to be carried toward the back of that cell. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (17.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 51 seconds - 21.60 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 8 - Intermittently the retraction fiber releases its grip on the substratum and is contracted back into the central region of the cell. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (9.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 27 seconds - 11.60 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 9 - MDBK cells, as well as many other types of epithelial cells, are contact inhibited in culture. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (4.6 hour time-lapse sequence; 14 seconds - 5.90 MB).

MDBK Live Cell Video No. 10 - A pair of MDBK daughter cells are unable to settle on the substratum because they are positioned on top of another cell, causing them to reassume spherical geometries. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (23.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 69 seconds - 29.20 MB).