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Culture of adult rat lung cells: Benzo(a)pyrene metabolism and mutagenesis

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Summary

A method is described for obtaining and culturing large numbers of lung cells from normal adult male rats. The lungs were perfused in situ to remove blood cells and then perfused via the trachea with a trypsin-collagenase solution to initiate tissue digestion. The tissue was further digested in the enzyme solution and approximately 2×108 viable lung cells were obtained per animal. Primary cultures contained a mixed cell population. Through eight subcultures about 70% of the cell population possessed an epithelial-like morphology, whereas the remaining 30% was fibroblast-like. Three clones of epithelial-like cells were isolated at the fourth subculture. The mass culture lung cells and the epithelial-like clone that was studied retained a normal karyotype and did not grow in soft agar. Both the mass culture cells and the epithelial clone metabolized the lung carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene (BP) to water-soluble products. Furthermore, the mass culture lung cells metabolized BP to intermediate(s) which mutated Chinese hamster V79 cells from ouabain sensitivity to ouabain resistance. These lung cell cultures have potential use in cell transformation, mutation and carcinogen metabolism studies.

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Author notes

  1. Anna Tompa

    Present address: First Institute of Pathology, Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, Hungary

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 68105, Omaha, Nebraska

    Anna Tompa & Robert Langenbach

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  1. Anna Tompa
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  2. Robert Langenbach
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Additional information

Visiting scientist from Hungary.

This research was supported by Grant 5 R01 CA20022 and Public Health Service Contract N01 CP33278 from the Division of Cancer Cause and Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.

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Tompa, A., Langenbach, R. Culture of adult rat lung cells: Benzo(a)pyrene metabolism and mutagenesis. In Vitro 15, 569–578 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02618257

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02618257

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