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Primary hepatocytes from rat and other species maintained in pure monolayer culture undergo phenotypic changes within a few days (1-3). This is particularly pronounced with respect to the cytochrome P450-dependent biotransformation capacity, but may also involve other metabol ...

There is an increasing use of epithelial cells grown on tissue culture supports. Such tissue culture systems are used to study the cellular mechanisms involved in protein and lipid sorting between the two series membranes, which comprise the polarized epithelia cell, the molecular biolo ...

This chapter aims to describe the basic procedure needed to establish primary cultures of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) (1), and vascular endothelial cells (ECs) (2). Direct visualization of crosstalk between two types of cell was first accomplished by means of 2-dimensional Ca2+i ...

The epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract is constantly exposed to a vast array of antigenic and potentially disease-evoking material derived from the diet and gut microflora. Thus, this single cell thick layer of cells (mainly transporting enterocytes, but also mucin-sec ...

Development of methods to culture airway epithelial cells has been needed to carry out research into various lung diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, and bronchial asthma. However, the culture of airway epithelial cells remained difficult. We have improved the culture conditions ...

The development of most organs is characterized by epithelial morphogenesis involving budding, branching, and folding of the epithelium, which is accompanied by growth and differentiation of the epithelial cells. Central mechanisms regulating this development are interact ...

During recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the role that bacteria, both pathogenic and commensal, play in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of disease. For example, antibiotics can be a useful therapy to relieve the symptomatology experienced by a cohort of patients wi ...

The stomach consists of many types of cells, including smooth muscle cells, mesenchymal cells, vessel forming cells, nerve cells, blood cells, including immune cells and gastric gland cells. Gastric epithelial cells can be further subdivided into at least 11 different cell types, ranging f ...

Two dimensional monolayer culture of thymic epithelial cells has been used for more than two decades for evaluation of the nature of these cells. Both cells from infant thymi and from thymi from a variety of laboratory animals have been used. The main reason for the broad interest in culture of these epi ...

In 1985, we first described a method for establishing primary cultures of nontransformed well differentiated hyperplastic biliary epithelium isolated in high purity and yield from the liver of bile duct-ligated rats (1). Subsequently, numerous models for culturing biliary epith ...

The establishment of liver epithelial cell lines or strains from newborn or adult rat liver has been reported by many investigators (1-6). The cells of these lines are smaller in size and morphologically more simple than hepatocytes, have a considerable growth potential, and are easy to passage. ...

The prostate constitutes part of the male reproductive system and is a small gland located at the base of the bladder surrounding the urethra. Although the functions of the prostate are unclear, prostatic secretions comprise around 30% of the components of seminal fluid (1) and may provide nutri ...

The respiratory epithelium changes dramatically in cellular composition as the conducting airways give way to the alveolar regions of the lung. This chapter will concentrate on the culture of cells that make up the epithelial monolayer of the peripheral gas exchange (pulmonary) region of ...

The circulatory system is the body’s inter-organ highway for transporting nutrients to the various organs and removing waste products. It also delivers cellular and soluble defense mechanisms to protect the body against invading pathogens. The circulatory system is complex but well d ...

Exocytosis from the three granules of platelets (dense-core, alpha, and lysosome) is a key event in normal hemostasis. Defects in these processes lead to bleeding-time disorders, such as Hermansky-Pudlak and gray platelet syndromes (1–4). Conversely, hyperactive secretion causes in ...

Patients with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) carry mutations in the dystrophin gene. To date, the dystrophin gene is the largest gene ever found in a living organism, measuring 2.4 Mb (1–3). The major muscle transcript consists of 79 exons, spliced together in a 14-kb mature RNA (1,2). ...

The microsomal enzyme cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6), also known as debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase, is involved in the oxidative metabolism of many widely used drugs, including neuroleptics, tricyclic antidepressants, antiarrhythmics, and β-adrenergic blocking agents (1). Poly ...

Apolipoprotein E (apo E) is a 299-amino acid plasma protein involved in cholesterol transport and is found in chylomicrons, very low density lipopro-tein, intermediate-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein (1,1).

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an autosomal recessive disorder of iron metabolism with a frequency of homozygosity in the Caucasian population of 1 in 200-400. The pathophysiologic hallmark of HH is chronic, increased absorption of dietary iron beyond that required for normal iron ...

Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) can occur when there are fetomaternal incompatibilities within any number of different erythrocyte antigen systems, including the RhD, Cc, Ee, Kidd and Duffy, and Kell antigen systems. In these disorders, maternal antibodies are developed by alloi ...