Epithelial cell cultures are instrumental in defining the pathophysiology of CF. A Tissue Procurement and Cell Culture Core was established at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in 1984, under the auspices of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, to provide standardized cell cultures to CF researchers. The Core has supported projects of the UNC Cystic Fibrosis Research Center since 1988, and has increased its output and capabilities to meet growing research demands. The Tissue Culture Core will support the SCOR projects through three major functions. 1. Tissue procurement. . Obtain nasal and lung tissue from normal, disease control, and cystic fibrosis humans as sources of airway epithelial cells. . Characterize donors with respect to diagnosis, demographic, and clinical features essential to research uses. 2. Airway epithelial cell isolation and culture. . Isolate epithelial cells from large and small airways of human, primate and rodent lungs. . Prepare and maintain primary epithelial cell cultures from define airway regions. . Prepare differentiated cultures from passaged, or cryopreserved and thawed cells on substrates as dictated by investigator needs. . Prepared and provide airway epithelial cell lines from gene knockout mice. 3. Cell culture technical development. . Optimize epithelial culture conditions to replicate the gene expression, morphological differentiation, and ion and mucus secretory functions of normal and CF large and small airways. . Produce genetically manipulated, well-differentiated primary airway epithelial cell cultures. . Provide very high humidity culture environments needed to assess airway surface liquid topography in the absence of evaporation artifacts.
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