An organ-culture method for human colorectal mucosa using serum-free medium

Versatile membrane-based microfluidic platform for in vitro drug diffusion testing mimicking in vivo environments

Mimicking the diffusion that drugs suffer through different body tissues before reaching their target is a challenge. In this work, a versatile membrane-based microfluidic platform was developed to allow for the identification of drugs that would keep their cytotoxic properties after diffusing through such a barrier. As an application case, this paper reports on a microfluidic device capable of mimicking the diffusion that free or encapsulated anticancer drugs would suffer in the intestine before reaching the bloodstream. It not only presents the successful fabrication results for the platform but also demonstrates the significant effect that the analyzed drugs have over the viability of osteosarcoma cells. This intestine-like microfluidic platform works as a tool to allow for the identification of drugs whose cytotoxic performance remains effective enough once they enter the bloodstream. Therefore, it allows for the prediction of the best treatment available for each patient in the battle against cancer.

A simple, cost-effective method for generating murine colonic 3D enteroids and 2D monolayers for studies of primary epithelial cell function

Cancer cell lines have been the mainstay of intestinal epithelial experimentation for decades, due primarily to their immortality and ease of culture. However, because of the inherent biological abnormalities of cancer cell lines, many cellular biologists are currently transitioning away from these models and toward more representative primary cells. This has been particularly challenging, but recent advances in the generation of intestinal organoids have brought the routine use of primary cells within reach of most epithelial biologists. Nevertheless, even with the proliferation of publications that use primary intestinal epithelial cells, there is still a considerable amount of trial and error required for laboratories to establish a consistent and reliable method to culture three-dimensional (3D) intestinal organoids and primary epithelial monolayers. We aim to minimize the time other laboratories spend troubleshooting the technique and present a standard method for culturing primary epithelial cells. Therefore, we have described our optimized, high-yield, cost-effective protocol to grow 3D murine colonoids for more than 20 passages and our detailed methods to culture these cells as confluent monolayers for at least 14 days, enabling a wide variety of potential future experiments. By supporting and expanding on the current literature of primary epithelial culture optimization and detailed use in experiments, we hope to help enable the widespread adoption of these innovative methods and allow consistency of results obtained across laboratories and institutions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Primary intestinal epithelial monolayers are notoriously difficult to maintain culture, even with the recent advances in the field. We describe, in detail, the protocols required to maintain three-dimensional cultures of murine colonoids and passage these primary epithelial cells to confluent monolayers in a standardized, high-yield and cost-effective manner.

The Ex Vivo Colon Organ Culture and Its Use in Antimicrobial Host Defense Studies

The intestine displays an architecture of repetitive crypt structures consisting of different types of epithelial cells, lamina propia containing immune cells, and stroma. All of these heterogeneous cells contribute to intestinal homeostasis and participate in antimicrobial host defense. Therefore, identifying a surrogate model for studying immune response and antimicrobial activity of the intestine in an in vitro setting is extremely challenging. In vitro studies using immortalized intestinal epithelial cell lines or even primary crypt organoid culture do not represent the exact physiology of normal intestine and its microenvironment. Here, we discuss a method of culturing mouse colon tissue in a culture dish and how this ex vivo organ culture system can be implemented in studies related to antimicrobial host defense responses. In representative experiments, we showed that colons in organ culture express antimicrobial peptides in response to exogenous IL-1β and IL-18. Further, the antimicrobial effector molecules produced by the colon tissues in the organ culture efficiently kill Escherichia coli in vitro. This approach, therefore, can be utilized to dissect the role of pathogen- and danger-associated molecular patterns and their cellular receptors in regulating intestinal innate immune responses and antimicrobial host defense responses.

Human colon tissue in organ culture: preservation of normal and neoplastic characteristics

Normal and neoplastic human colon tissue obtained at surgery was used to establish conditions for organ culture. Optimal conditions included an atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% O2; tissue partially submerged with mucosa at the gas interface; and serum-free medium with 1.5 mM Ca2+ and a number of growth supplements. Histological, histochemical, and immunohistochemical features that distinguish normal and neoplastic tissue were preserved over a 2-d period. With normal tissue, this included the presence of elongated crypts with small, densely packed cells at the crypt base and mucin-containing goblet cells in the upper portion. Ki67 staining, for proliferating cells, was confined to the lower third of the crypt, while expression of extracellular calcium-sensing receptor was seen in the upper third and surface epithelium. E-cadherin and β-catenin were expressed throughout the epithelium and confined to the cell surface. In tumor tissue, the same disorganized, abnormal glandular structures seen at time zero were present after 2 d. The majority of cells in these structures were mucin-poor, but occasional goblet cells were seen and mucin staining was present. Ki67 staining was seen throughout the abnormal epithelium and calcium-sensing receptor expression was weak and variable. E-cadherin was seen at the cell surface (similar to normal tissue), but in some places, there was diffuse cytoplasmic staining. Finally, intense cytoplasmic and nuclear β-catenin staining was observed in cultured neoplastic tissue.

Human colon tissue in organ culture: calcium and multi-mineral-induced mucosal differentiation

We have recently shown that a multi-mineral extract from the marine red algae, Lithothamnion calcareum, suppresses colon polyp formation and inflammation in mice. In the present study, we used intact human colon tissue in organ culture to compare responses initiated by Ca(2+) supplementation versus the multi-mineral extract. Normal human colon tissue was treated for 2 d in culture with various concentrations of calcium or the mineral-rich extract. The tissue was then prepared for histology/immunohistochemistry, and the culture supernatants were assayed for levels of type I procollagen and type I collagen. At higher Ca(2+) concentrations or with the mineral-rich extract, proliferation of epithelial cells at the base and walls of the mucosal crypts was suppressed, as visualized by reduced Ki67 staining. E-cadherin, a marker of differentiation, was more strongly expressed at the upper third of the crypt and at the luminal surface. Treatment with Ca(2+) or with the multi-mineral extract influenced collagen turnover, with decreased procollagen and increased type I collagen. These data suggest that calcium or mineral-rich extract has the capacity to (1) promote differentiation in human colon tissue in organ culture and (2) modulate stromal function as assessed by increased levels of type I collagen. Taken together, these data suggest that human colon tissue in organ culture (supporting in vivo finding in mice) will provide a valuable model for the preclinical assessment of agents that regulate growth and differentiation in the colonic mucosa.

Intestinal epithelial cells in vitro

Recent advances in the biology of stem cells has resulted in significant interest in the development of normal epithelial cell lines from the intestinal mucosa, both to exploit the therapeutic potential of stem cells in tissue regeneration and to develop treatment models of degenerative disorders of the digestive tract. However, the difficulty of propagating cell lines of normal intestinal epithelium has impeded research into the molecular mechanisms underlying differentiation of stem/progenitor cells into the various intestinal lineages. Several short-term organ/organoid and epithelial cell culture models have been described. There is a dearth of long-term epithelial and/or stem cell cultures of intestine. With an expanding role of stem cells in the treatment of degenerative disorders, there is a critical need for additional efforts to develop in vitro models of stem/progenitor epithelial cells of intestine. The objective of this review is to recapitulate the current status of technologies and knowledge for in vitro propagation of intestinal epithelial cells, markers of the intestinal stem cells, and gene and protein expression profiles of the intestinal cellular differentiation.

Organotypical tissue cultures from adult murine colon as an in vitro model of intestinal mucosa

Together with animal experiments, organotypical cell cultures are important models for analyzing cellular interactions of the mucosal epithelium and pathogenic mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we introduce a three-dimensional culture model from the adult mouse colon for cell biological investigations in an in vivo-like environment. These explant cultures were cultured for up to 2 weeks and maintained typical characteristics of the intestinal mucosa, including a high-prismatic epithelium with specific epithelial cell-to-cell connections, a basal lamina and various connective tissue cell types, as analyzed with immunohistological and electron microscopic methods. The function of the epithelium was tested by treating the cultures with dexamethasone, which resulted in a strong upregulation of the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 similar to that found in vivo. The culture system was investigated in infection experiments with the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Wildtype but not Deltacph1/Deltaefg1-knockout Candida adhered to, penetrated and infiltrated the epithelial barrier. The results demonstrate the potential usefulness of this intestinal in vitro model for studying epithelial cell-cell interactions, cellular signaling and microbiological infections in a three-dimensional cell arrangement.

Intestinal epithelial stem cells and progenitors

The adult intestinal epithelium contains a relatively simple, highly organized, and readily accessible stem cell system. Excellent methods exist for the isolation of intestinal epithelium from adults, and as a result collecting large quantities of intestinal stem and progenitor cells for study or culture and subsequent clinical applications should be routine. It is not, however, for two reasons: (1) adult intestinal epithelial cells rapidly initiate apoptosis on detachment from the basement membrane, and (2) in vitro conditions necessary for survival, proliferation, and differentiation are poorly understood. Thus to date the study of intestinal stem and progenitor cells has been largely dependent on in vivo approaches. We discuss existing in vivo assays for stem and progenitor cell behavior as well as current methods for isolating and culturing the intestinal epithelium.

A simple method of tumour culture

We describe a simple explant primary cell culture system which maintains the normal tumour stroma relationship. This technique utilises conventional cell culture methods combined with the skills found in the histopathological laboratory. This produces sections of tumour visible by light microscopy. Using this method we were able to maintain for up to 7 days good morphological preservation and demonstrated continued proliferation. This technique produces histological sections of tumour following in vitro culture that can be utilised for other molecular studies, e.g. immunohistochemistry and in situ PCR. This method should prove invaluable to pathologists enabling direct visualisation and localisation of molecular events involved in tumour growth.