Dissociation, culture and morphologic changes of interstitial cells of Cajal in vitro

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 11; no. 18; pp. 2838 - 2840
• Main Authors: Li, Chun-Xue, Liu, Bao-Hua, Tong, Wei-Dong, Zhang, Lian-Yang, Jiang, Yan-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Department of General Surgery, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China 14.05.2005; Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Clocks; Brief Reports; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Separation; Cells, Cultured; Gastrointestinal Tract - cytology; Gastrointestinal Tract - physiology; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Muscle, Smooth - cytology; Muscle, Smooth - physiology; Time Factors; 神经原细胞; 空隙细胞; 细胞分裂; 细胞形态学; Morphologic change; Interstitial cells of Cajal; Culture
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i18.2838

AIM: To study the method of dissociation, culture and investigate its morphologic changes in vitro of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC).METHODS: Enzymatic digestion and Ficoll density centrifugation were used to dissociate ICC from the ileal segment of mice. Factors including contamination, Ca2+, Mg2+ and collagenase, and stem cell factor, etc, were investigated.ACK2, the antibody of c-kit, was used to identify the cultured ICC. Both light microscope and fluorescence microsope were used to observe the changes of ICC in vitro.RESULTS: The method for dissociation and culture of ICC in vitro was successfully established. After 24 h, cultured ICC exhibited a few axis-cylinders, and longer axis-cylinders were observed to form synapse of each other after 3 d.More widespread connections formed within 7 d in vitro.The changes of its morphologic character were obvious within 7 d; however, there were no obvious morphologic changes after 30 d.CONCLUSION: Many factors can influence the dissociation and culture of ICC.