An ENF peptide, Bombyx mori paralytic peptide, induces cell proliferation and morphological changes in Bombyx cell lines

Insect cell lines have been experimentally influential in cell biology, biochemistry-, virology, and the production of recombinant protein. They are usually cultured in media containing animal sera to promote cell growth. In mammalian cell cultures, chemically defined media supplemented with identified growth factors have been developed and applied, but mammalian growth factors may often have limited effect on insect cells. No growth factor is identified that can be substituted for vertebrate sera in insect cell culture. Mitsuhashi developed a chemically defined medium for a cell line derived from the flesh fly and suggested the need for autocrinal factor in successive culture.