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. 2003 Nov;43(1-3):57–64. doi: 10.1023/B:CYTO.0000039910.30540.8f

New Model for Studying the Migration of Immune Cells into Intestinal Epithelial Cell Monolayers

Akira Mori 1, Hideo Satsu 1, Makoto Shimizu 1
PMCID: PMC3449588  PMID: 19003208

Abstract

A novel cell culture system was constructed to analyze the direct interaction between intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells. Human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells were monolayer-cultured on the under side of a permeable membrane (12 μm pore size) in a Millicell insert. Integrated monolayers of Caco-2 cells had formed after 12 days of culture. Human monocyte/macrophage-like THP-1 cells were then added to the upper chamber of the insert, and their migration into the Caco-2 cell monolayers was observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, after staining the cells with specific antibodies. When MCP-1, a β-chemokine, was added to the apical side of the monolayer, a greater number of THP-1 cells migrated into the Caco-2 cell monolayers. This cell culture system will be useful for studying the behavior of macrophages in the intestinal epithelial cell monolayers at the initial stage of an intestinal immune reaction.

Keywords: Caco-2, cell migration, chemokine, intestinal epithelium, THP-1

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