Abstract: 　[Abstract] Objective To study the primary culture of cells from Oncomelania hupensis. Methods After washed in the sterile solution with antibiotic, the Oncomelania hupensis snails and their eggs were dissected. The soft tissue, liver, mantle and the embryo were collected and torn up respectively. Above tissues except mantle were digested by a mixture containing equal volumes of 0.25% trypsin and 0.02% EDTA for several hours at 4 1C . The cells after digestion were inoculated. Meanwhile, the tissue of mantle were inoculated by moist system method. All cells were cultured separately in medium 1/2 RP-MI1640 containing 20% calf serum and antibiotics (penicillin G 100 lU/ml, streptomycin 100 fig/ml) at pH 7.2 - 7.4 and temperature of 27 t - 28 "C . Results Affter the embryonic tissue was digested by tryspin/EDTA mixture, lots of dissociated cells were obtained. Some of the cells began to adhere to the culture flask surface after cultured for 5 days. The adhering cells were flat and polygonal, about( 15-20 x 12-15)fun in diameter. But most of the cells were still suspending in the media. The suspending cells were round, usually about 8-12 fim in diameter with a few reaching 30 - 35 /um in diameter. These cells grew well and could be subcultured. Conclusion Embryonic cells from Oncomelania hupensis can be primarily cultured and subcul-tured.

Key words: Oncomelania hupensis, primary culture, embryonic cell, cell culture