In-vitro cultivation of normal human oral keratinocytes

Objective To establish a method for culturing normal human oral keratinocyt es. Methods Specimens obtained from healthy humans undergoing oral surgery were dissociated into single cell suspensions by dispase and trypsin. The cells were grown in serum-free medium. Morphological characteristics were studie d under light microscope and electron microscope. Cytokeratins were shown b y immunohistochemistry. Results Cells could be maintained in culture up to 4 - 5 passages or 30 - 5 0 days. Electron microscope revealed that there were desmosomes and tonofib rils in the oral keratinocytes. The cells showed positive staining for cyto keratin antibody. Conclusion Human oral keratinocytes have been successfully grown in serial culture.