title: Isolation, characterization, and culture of normal human intestinal crypt and villus cells.
abstract: The intestinal epithelium is a highly dynamic tissue undergoing constant and rapid renewal. It consists of a functional villus compartment responsible for terminal digestion and nutrient absorption and a progenitor cell compartment located in the crypts that produce new cells. The mechanisms regulating cell proliferation in the crypt, their migration, and differentiation are still incompletely understood. Until recently, normal human intestinal cell models allowing the study of these mechanisms have been lacking. In our laboratory, using fetal human intestines obtained at mid-gestation, we have generated the first normal human intestinal epithelial crypt-like (HIEC) cell line and villus-like primary cultures of differentiated enterocytes (PCDE). In this chapter, we provide a detailed description of the methodologies used to generate and characterize these normal intestinal crypt and villus cell models.
authors: CIHR Team on Digestive Epithelium, Département d'anatomie et de biologie cellulaire, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. Jean-Francois.Beaulieu@USherbrooke.ca
authors: Jean-François
authors: JF
authors: Beaulieu
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Ménard
mesh_terms: D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation; D020895:Enterocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D061251:Primary Cell Culture / Q000379:methods*