A continuous cell line, SYSU-OfHe-C, from hemocytes of Ostrinia furnacalis possesses immune ability depending on the presence of larval plasma

• A continuous cell line, SYSU-OfHe-C, from hemocytes of Ostrinia furnacalis was established.
• It mainly contains two kinds of hemocytes: granulocytes and plasmatocytes.
• Two kinds of cells showed different cleavage and proliferation behaviors.
• Cells possess immune ability such as spreading and encapsulation depending on the presence of larval plasma.

A continuous cell line, SYSU-OfHe-C, from larval hemocytes of corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis was established. With increasing passages, the cells grew increasingly faster, and approximately 45% of the cells were in division at passage 55. The culture was mainly composed of two types of cells, granulocytes and plasmatocytes, which showed different division and proliferation behaviors, but possessed similar phagocytic ability. Its spreading ability was significantly weaker than that of hemocytes from naïve larva; however, it could be promoted by larval plasma. Furthermore, its encapsulation ability was also promoted by larval plasma to form multilayer capsules on Sephadex A-25 beads. Finally, the expression of several immune-related genes was verified after provocation by microbes or Sephadex beads. These results indicated that the cell line possessed immune ability depending on the presence of plasma of naïve larvae and are beneficial to studies of insect cellular systems.