spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kirkland, S. C.
Right arrow Articles by Henderson, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kirkland, S. C.
Right arrow Articles by Henderson, K.

Journal of Cell Science, Vol 107, Issue 4 1041-1046, Copyright © 1994 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Endocrine and mucous differentiation by a cloned human rectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HRA-19) in vitro: inhibition by TGF-beta 1

SC Kirkland and K Henderson
Department of Histopathology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK.

Colorectal epithelium is composed of absorptive, mucous and endocrine cells, all of which are considered to arise from a common stem cell located in the crypt base. However, the factors controlling the commitment to differentiate are poorly understood. This is partly due to the lack of in vitro model systems for the study of differentiation in colorectal epithelium. The HRA-19 cell line, established from a human rectal adenocarcinoma, has been shown to have multipotential characteristics with cloned HRA-19 cells able to differentiate into absorptive, mucous and endocrine cells when grown as xenografts. The lack of such differentiated cells in HRA-19 monolayers in vitro suggests that differentiation is controlled by extracellular matrix, stromal cells and/or soluble factors. Such observations show that differentiation in HRA-19 cells can be controlled by extrinsic factors and therefore provide a model system for studying control of differentiation in colorectal epithelium. Unfortunately, the restriction of differentiation to xenografts of the cell line limits the degree to which this differentiation can be manipulated. In this study, the possibility that HRA-19 cells could be induced to differentiate in vitro under appropriate conditions has been investigated. Endocrine and mucous cells were identified by immunocytochemistry with differentiation-related antibodies and histology of monolayers. Preconfluent HRA-19 cells grown in 10% foetal calf serum formed a well polarised monolayer with apical tight junctions and sparse microvilli, but cells with mucous or endocrine phenotypes were only very occasionally observed. However, endocrine and mucous cells could reproducibly be demonstrated in postconfluent monolayers grown in 1% foetal calf serum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1994