Secretory differentiation of serially passaged normal human nasal epithelial cells by retinoic acid: Expression of mucin and lysozyme

The purpose of this study was to subculture normal human nasal epithelial ( NHNE) cells without compromising their ability to differentiate into secret ory and ciliated cells and to study the effect of retinoic acid on mucous a nd serous secretions in passaged cells and to compare the expression of muc in and lysozyme in cultured cells with those in in vivo nasal epithelium. T he subcultured cells: were tested after every passage for secretory differe ntiation in air-liquid interface cultures. The cultured NHNE cells secreted mucin and lysozyme. The cells became squamous and mucin secretion decrease d when retinoic acid wets deleted from the culture media. Cells from passag e 1 through passage 2 remained able to differentiate into mucous or squamou s cells. Mucin gene 4 (MUC4), MUC5AC, MUC7, MUC8, and lysozyme messenger RN As were expressed in passage 2 NHNE cells. In conclusion, passage 2 NHNE ce ll cultures retain features of normal epithelium and are suitable for many studies of upper airway cell biology.