Co–cultivation of caco–2 and HT–29MTX

Abstract

The intestinal epithelium is one of the body's largest mucosal surfaces and it generates a physical barrier against the external environment. The majority of cells lining the epithelium are absorptive enterocytes with mainly metabolic and digestive functions. Hence, the diversity of functions the intestinal epithelium carries out depends on the presence of additional specialized intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). Secretory IEC, goblet cells, enteroendocrine cells and Paneth cells are specialized cells that participate in maintaining the digestive and barrier functions of the epithelium. Goblet cells release mucins, which give rise to a mucus layer on the epithelial surface that functions as physical and biochemical barrier for luminal content. The presence of the different epithelial cell types in an in vitro model will affect how well the model reflects the properties of the intestinal epithelium. We here describe a co-cultivation system of enterocytes and goblet cells, which are the two major epithelial cell types.