Cell monolayers MDCK

Cell cultures. MDCK cells were seeded in the Transwells at a density of 2.2 x 104 cells/cm. Cells were fed by changing medium in both upper (apical) and lower (basal) compartments periodically. Confluent monolayers were obtained at 5-7 days post-inoculation, when the cell density reached 4.5-5.0 x 105 cells/cm2, and a transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) of about 2,000 ohms cm2 was measured using an epithelial voltohmmeter (EVOM, World Precision Instruments, West Haven, CT). The amount of FBS in the cell culture medium could be decreased as the cells approached their maximum resistance, and could be maintained at that point for 2 days or longer in medium containing 1% FBS. 

The in vitro system we have been using to study the transepithelial transport is cultured Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells (11). When cultured on microporous polycarbonate filters (Transwell, Costar, Cambridge, MA), MDCK cells will develop into monolayers mimicking the mucosal epithelium (11). When these cells reach confluence, tight junctions will be established between the cells, and free diffusion of solutes across the cell monolayer will be markedly inhibited. Tight junction formation can be monitored by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) across the cell monolayers. In Figure 1, MDCK cells were seeded at 2 X 104 cells per well in Transwells (0.4 p pore size) as described previously. TEER and 14C-sucrose transport were measured daily. To determine 14C-sucrose... 

Figure 1. The correlation of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) with the transepithelial transport of 14C-sucrose in MDCK cell monolayers grown on microporous filters.

Figure 3. Transcellular transport of HRP-S-PLL in filter-grown MDCK cell monolayers. Confluent MDCK monolayers in Transwells were treated at the basal compartment (closedsquares)or the apical compartment (open squares) with 3 pg/mL HRP-S-PLL conjugate.

Figure 6. Transcellular transport of HRP-SS-PDL in a filter-grown MDCK cell monolayer. HRP-SS-PDL was added to the apical medium (closed squares) or to the basal medium (open squares).

Figure 11 Change in paracellular permeation of sucrose and mannitol across MDCK cell monolayers following addition of 1 pg/mL cytochalasin D.

Table 7 Permeability Coefficients of the Paracellular Route of Unperturbed and Cytochalasin D-Perturbed MDCK Cell Monolayers at 25°C... 

Figure 12 Molecular restriction factor as a function of the ratio of molecular radius to pore radius for mannitol and sucrose flux across MDCK cell monolayers that were untreated or treated with 1 pg/mL cytochalasin D (see Fig. 11).

To estimate the relative importance of the tight junction and the lateral space composing the paracellular route, let us consider the permeability of mannitol across Caco-2 and MDCK cell monolayers. The results taken from earlier examples are presented below ... 

Interestingly, the permeability coefficients of mannitol in the two cell types are identical, most probably for different reasons, since the physical dimensions of the Caco-2 and MDCK monolayers (Table 8) are markedly different. Compared to the MDCK cell monolayer, the Caco-2 cell monolayer has a taller cell height, a shorter length in tight junctions, longer tortuous path lengths, and smaller slit width in lateral space. One recognizes that... 

Table 8 Physical Dimensions of Caco-2 and MDCK Cell Monolayers...

Figure 13 Estimated molecular restriction of mannitol in the lateral space of MDCK and Caco-2 cell monolayers. The lateral space was assumed to be a rectangular slit. Molecular restriction functions for slits and cylindrical pores are put into perspective.

Figure 15 An increase in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) of MDCK cell monolayers with time in culture reflects the gradual formation of a continuous sheet of epithelia with restrictive tight junctions. [Redrawn from Cho et al. (1989) with permission from the publisher.]...

The flux of 3H-labeled PNU-78,517 across MDCK cell monolayers shows the characteristic disparity between the kinetics of disappearance from the donor solution and appearance in the receiver sink (Fig. 32). Drug uptake is rapid and exponential with time and approaches a quasi-equilibrium state in contrast, the concomitant efflux of drug into the receiver is slow and linear. While maintaining a 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) concentration in the donor and varying the BSA concentration between 0.5 and 5% in the receiver, the results show that the... 

Figure 32 Disappearance and appearance kinetics of transcellular flux of the lipophilic antioxidant PNU-78,517 (pKa 6.5) across MDCK cell monolayers in Transwell systems at 37°C. Donor solutions contained 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA), and receiver solutions contained 0.5-5% BSA at pH 7.4. [Redrawn from Raub et al. (1993) with permission from the publisher.]... 

Given the low permeability of the antioxidant across MDCK cell monolayers and its large membrane partition coefficient, efflux kinetic studies using drug-loaded cell monolayers cultured on plastic dishes could yield useful information when coupled with the following biophysical model. The steady-state flux of drug from the cell monolayer is equal to the appearance rate in the receiver solution ... 

Table 19 Comparison Between Permeability Coefficients of the Apical and Basolateral Membranes from Independent Efflux Kinetics from Drug-Loaded MDCK Cell Monolayers...

The initial conditions are CD = CD(0) at t = 0 and CR = 0 at t = 0. Efforts to obtain analytical solutions are tedious and unnecessary. By applying the change in concentrations (or mass) in the donor and receiver solutions with time to the Laplace transforms of Eqs. (140) and (141), the inverse of the simultaneous transformed equations can be numerically calculated with appropriate software for best estimates of a, (3, and y. It is implicit here that P Pap, Pbh and Ke are functions of protein binding. Upon application of the transmonolayer flux model to the PNU-78,517 data in Figure 32, the effective permeability coefficients from the disappearance and appearance kinetics points of view are in good quantitative agreement with the permeability coefficients determined from independent studies involving uptake kinetics by MDCK cell monolayers cultured on a flat dish... 

Cho MJ, DP Thompson, CT Cramer, T Vidmar, JF Scieszka. (1989). The Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell monolayer as a model cellular transport barrier. Pharm Res 6 71-77. 

In cultures of the more resistant cell line, MDCK, the predominant effect of Tyv-specific monoclonal antibodies is to exclude larvae from the monolayer. This exclusion is associated with the formation of cap-like structures that cover the stoma of the larva. Such caps were first described... 

Two main factors have guided the need for optimization of the early screening techniques on one hand the use of simple, quick and high-capacity cell monolayer methods, e.g., Caco-2 cell and MDCK and on the other hand the increased synthesis of more lipophilic, insoluble compounds from combinatorial libraries. This has created a vast number of different variants of cell-based assays and has resulted in variability among the data obtained. A need for optimization of as many as possible of the different parameters in order to increase the predictivity and throughput of the model has been suggested in the literature [98-100]. 

MDCK Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells have received attention as an alternative to Caco-2 cells for permeability measurements. When grown under standard culture conditions, MDCK cells develop tight junctions and form monolayers of polarized cells. The main advantage over Caco-2 cells is the shorter culture time to confluence (3-5 days). The transep-ithelial electrical resistance of MDCK cells is lower than that of Caco-2 cells and thus, closer to the TEER of the small intestine in vivo. The permeability coefficients of hydrophilic compounds are usually lower in Caco-2 cells than in MDCK cells, which is consistent with the lower TEER values for MDCK cell monolayers. The nonhuman (canine) and nonintestinal (renal) origin of MDCK cells is considered as a disadvantage. They have low expression levels of transporter proteins and low metabolic activity [34], MDCK cells that are stably transfected with P-gp/MDRl are often proposed as an alternative for Caco-2 cells to study bidirectional transport of compounds and, more... 

VolSurf was also successfully applied in the literature to predict absorption properties [156] from experimental drug permeability data of 55 compounds [165] in Caco-2 cells (human intestinal epithelial cell line derived from a colorectal carcinoma) and MDCK cell monolayers (Madin-Darby canine kidney). In this interesting case, it was shown that models including counterions for charged molecules clearly show significantly better quality and overall performance. The final model was also able to correctly predict, to a great extent, the relative ranking of molecules from another Caco-2 permeability study by Yazdanian et al. ]166]. 

An important observation is that certain viruses preferentially bud at different poles of their host cells. In MDCK-cell monolayers, VSV buds exclusively from the basal, or lateral, plasma membranes, and contains sialylated glycoproteins, whereas influenza virus buds exclusively from the apical plasma-membrane, and lacks neuraminic acid. The question arises as to whether glycosylation of viral glycoproteins is needed in order to determine the site of budding. An electron-microscope study revealed that polarity in the maturation sites of these viruses was maintained under conditions of inhibition of glycosyla-... 

Cho MJ, Adson A, Kezdy FJ. Transepithelial transport of aliphatic carboxylic acids studied in Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell monolayers. Pharm Res 1990 7(4) 325-331. 

Zhang Y, Benet LZ. Characterization of P-glycoprotein mediated transport of K02, a novel vinylsulfone peptidomimetic cysteine protease inhibitor, across MDR1-MDCK and Caco-2 cell monolayers. Pharm Res 1998 15(10) 1520-1524. 

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