Isolation and culturing of highly polarized primary epithelial cells from normal human stomach (antrum) as spheroid-like vesicles

A novel procedure is described for the three-dimensional (3-D) in vitro culture and for maintaining of nontransformed gastric epithelial cells from the human antrum mucosa (HAEC). Biopsies obtained from the antrum were cut into small pieces and the tissue fragments were incubated in culture medium containing the appropriate antibiotics. The suspended mucosal fragments generated small, spheroid-like vesicles consisting of predominantly highly prismatic, mucus-producing cells which mimic the in vivo counterparts structurally and functionally. Electron microscopic investigations revealed a number of ultrastructural and morphological features similar to those of normal gastric cells in vivo such as apical microvilli associated with a glycocalyx, tight junctions, desmosomes, membraneous infoldings, mucous droplets, and an irregular basal lamina. In comparison to the two-dimensional (2-D) gastric cell cultures grown on plane supports, the vesicles maintain an intact epithelial organization of individual cells. The prismatic phenotype, the histophysiology as well as the cytoarchitecture of the non-transformed 3-D cultured gastric epithelial cells are comparable to those of the native tissue and therefore represent a suitable model for defined pathogen-host cell interactions.