Isolation of Human Gastric Epithelial Cells from Gastric Surgical Tissue and Gastric Biopsies for Primary Culture

: The epithelium of human gastric mucosa is involved in secretory and digestive functions, and distinct epithelial populations located in specific compartments of the gastric pit-gland units mediate these functions. We successfully developed a method for the isolation and growth of normal human gastric epithelial cells using biopsies or surgically resected tissues as the source of the cells. Gastric epithelial cell aggregates were released from the underlying tissues by gentle enzymatic digestion of collagenase type IV. Primary cultures were generated by seeding viable multicellular aggregates on plastic without a biological matrix. Characterized by immunostaining of cell-specific antigens, the cells were confirmed to be heterogenous gastric epithelial primary cultures containing mucus cells, neck cells, parietal cells, chief cells, and gastrin-secreting endocrine cells. This simple and convenient method will prove useful in the isolation of normal human gastric mucous epithelial cells for in vitro studies of gastric epithelial biology.