Bottom feeders
To determine intestinal absorption of drug candidates, researchers often rely on in vitro assays
LIEGE, Belgium—To determine intestinal absorption of drug candidates, researchers often rely on in vitro assays using Caco-2 cells. Unfortunately, there is some argument on whether the assay truly mimics in vivo behavior in the absence of mucin-generating cells.
To address this issue, researchers at the University of Liege and Catholic University of Louvain recently co-cultured Caco-2 cells with mucin-producing HT29-5M21 cells and monitored their behavior in serum-free medium. They described their work in BMC Cell Biology.
Based on the expression of genetic markers, the researchers determined that co-culturing the cells did not change the phenotype of the cells. Furthermore, they found that co-cultured cells showed increased paracellular permeability to small molecules that correlated with the proportion of HT29 cells over Caco-2 cells. The researchers plan to use the assay to model human diseases such as celiac disease, which involves altered permeability.
