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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Dietary Prevention of Obesity-related Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #68168
Title: THE EFFECT OF IN VITRO SUPPORT SYSTEMS ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICSOF HUMAN COLON ADENOCARCINOMA AND CHORIOCARCINOMA CELLS

Author
item Briske Anderson, Mary
item Newman Jr, Samuel
item Reeves, Phillip

Submitted to: North Dakota Academy of Science Proceedings
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Cells grown in culture have enhanced nutrition research by replacing live animals or human subjects as experimental models. This allows a wider range of experiments, decreases the expense of the research, and provides a more ethical approach to experimentation. In this study we have described the effects of various support surfaces on the growth of two cell lines currently employed in nutrition studies. We found that surfaces with a high density of small pores provide more uniform growth. This information serves to reduce variability and ambiguity in experimental results.

Technical Abstract: The culture of cells in vitro is gaining recognition by nutritionists as a suitable model for studying the uptake and transport of trace metals. The advantage of in vitro model systems is that nutritional questions at the cellular level can be studied. It is important to scrutinize such models regarding their morphology on different supporting surfaces. The purpose of this study was to find a permeable support surface that would diffuse trace elements but still keep the cells from migrating to the underside of the support. Caco-2 and JAR cells (currently used as nutritional models) were grown on porous membranes of different materials, different pore size, and different pore density with standard growth conditions. Previous work by our laboratory has shown that a unique feature that we call multicellular protrusions is present in our Caco-2 cultures. Cultures of Caco-2 cells grown on high density, 0.45 um pore size membranes had fewer multicellular protrusions than those cultures grown on low density, 0.45 or 1 and 3 um pore size. This feature may contribute to variation of experimental data. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce their formation. Adherence to the support surface was the primary concern in evaluation of JAR cells. All porous membranes supported the growth of JAR cells and no morphological changes caused by the membrane was observed. Pore sizes of 1 and 3 um allowed both cell types to migrate through the membrane.