Characterisation of epithelial cell line from rat cornea

Purpose Characterisation of RtCE-1 cells, newly established rat corneal epi thelial cell line. Methods Morphology of RtCE-1 cells was characterised by light and electron microscopy. Expression of cytokeratins was studied by polyacrylamide electr ophoresis and Western blotting. Characterisation of RtCE-1 cells also inclu ded karyotype analysis and in vitro study of growth kinetics. Results The line shows morphological similarities to normal corneal epithel ium. The cells express cornea-specific cytokeratins. Karyotype analysis rev ealed that the cells are polyploid with modal number of chromosomes at pass age 30 equalling 72 +/- 14. Growth of the line is partially dependent on EG F. Conclusion RtCE-1 cells may constitute a model for the evaluation of prolif eration, function and differentiation of conceal epithelium in vitro.