Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2003 Sep;46(9):727-732.

All-Trans Retinoic Acid Induces Mucociliary Differentiation in a Human Cholesteatoma Epithelial Cell Culture

• Choi JY
• Choi HS
• Cho KN
• Yoon JH

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Retinoic acid (RA) can prevent keratin formation and induce mucous differentiation in epithelia. In the present study, we attempted to induce keratinizing squamous epithelium from human cholesteatoma epithelial (HCE) cells using an air-liquid interface (ALI) technique. We also examined the effect of RA on the phenotype of keratinizing HCE cells. MATERIALS AND METHOD: HCE cells were cultured in RA-free defined media at an ALI or in a submerged state. We examined the morphological differences between ALI and the submerged cultures, and histologically investigated changes of the phenotype after RA treatment. We also determined the effect of RA on the mRNA expressions of the cornifin-alpha and mucin genes as indicators of squamous and mucous differentiation, respectively. RESULTS: Using an ALI technique, we were able to differentiate HCE cells into a keratinizing squamous epithelium. When we treated the keratinizing HCE cells with RA, the morphological phenotype progressively changed to mucociliary epithelium. In addition, the expression of cornifin-alpha mRNA was suppressed, and the expressions of mucin gene 5AC (MUC5AC) and MUC5B mRNA were increased progressively with RA treatment. CONCLUSION: We successfully developed a culture system for keratinizing differentiation of HCE cells using the ALI technique in a defined medium. Our study also clearly showed that RA treatment led to mucociliary differentiation of HCE cells.

MeSH Terms

Cholesteatoma*
Epithelial Cells*
Epithelium
Humans*
Mucins
Phenotype
RNA, Messenger
Tretinoin*
Mucins
RNA, Messenger
Tretinoin