Organotypic culture of fetal rat lung: evaluation and comparison with organ culture.
Monodispersed suspensions of 19-day fetal rat lung when plated onto gelatin sponges reaggregated to form alveolarlike structures. These structures consisted almost entirely of alveolar type II cells, whereas the whole cultures contained about 65% type II cells. The phospholipid content and composition of the organotypic cultures after 8 days of incubation was very similar to that of explants of 19-day fetal rat lung grown in organ culture of 48 h, as was the pattern of incorporation of choline and acetate into phospholipids. Very little phosphatidylcholine was secreted by the organotypic cultures into the culture medium. Initial observations suggested that the organ cultures are more responsive to hormones. Organotypic cultures do not appear to offer any major advantage over the simpler and quicker organ cultures for studies of hormonal influences on fetal lung maturation. They may be useful for examining the metabolism and sympathetic pathways of the type II cell.
D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005333:Fetus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
D000085:Acetates; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D010743:Phospholipids; D002794:Choline