Abstract
Background: Various differentiation-inducing agents or harvesting of spontaneously late post-confluence cultures have been used to differentiate the human colon carcinoma Caco-2 cell line. We report a new procedure to generate pre-confluent subcultures of Caco-2 population at various stages of differentiation without altering culture conditions. Materials and Methods: Ultrastructural analysis, cell proliferation activity and biochemical markers of differentiation were evaluated at different passages. Results: Subcultures of Caco-2 cells at pre-confluence, exhibiting progressive acquisition of a more benign differentiation phenotype, were generated. Early passages of Caco-2 cells showed a well-developed brush border and incomplete junctional apparatus; subsequent subcultures yielded cell populations with well-developed junctions similar to those of small intestinal cells. Conclusion: These culture conditions represent a new versatile model not only to progressively induce the differentiation program in Caco-2 cells at pre-confluence without changes of culture media, but also to explore mechanistic modes of drug transport and tumor development.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3919-3925 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Anticancer Research |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 6 B |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2007 |
Keywords
- Caco-2 cells
- Differentiation
- Intestine
- Proliferation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Oncology