U. Gath et al., PORCINE CHOROID-PLEXUS CELLS IN CULTURE - EXPRESSION OF POLARIZED PHENOTYPE, MAINTENANCE OF BARRIER PROPERTIES AND APICAL SECRETION OF CSF-COMPONENTS, European journal of cell biology, 74(1), 1997, pp. 68-78
We have successfully cultured choroid plexus epithelial cells from por
cine brain in pure form by the addition of cytosine arabinoside to the
culture medium which prevented growth of other contaminating cells, W
e characterized the cells in culture by the presence of desmoplakin, f
ibronectin, thrombospondin, and the zonula occludens protein ZO-1 in c
omparison to frozen fractions of the isolated choroid plexus tissue, T
he cells in culture express those marker proteins and moreover exhibit
a polarized phenotype which was expected from the presence of tight j
unction strands that correlate to an electrical resistance of 120 Ohm
cm(2) measured across the cell monolayer on a permeable support, Perme
ability studies with fluorescein-labeled dextrans also indicate a bioc
hemical tightness. The polarity of the cells is demonstrated by the pr
esence of microvilli and cilia on the surface of the cultured cells as
well as by the laser scanning microscopic determination of the apical
localization of the ZO-1-protein and the Na+K+-ATPase. Thrombospondin
and fibronectin were found to be localized at the basolateral membran
e side, The cells in culture secrete medium containing prealbumin pred
ominantly into the apical compartment which demonstrates that they are
able to release medium containing CSF-proteins and therefore verifies
the usefulness of this in vitro model.