Gastrointestinal epithelium is the unique route for nutrients and for many pharmaceuticals to enter the body. The present study aimed to analyze precisely whether co-culture of two colon cancer cell lines, mucus-producing cells HT29-MTX and enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells, ameliorate differentiation into an in vitro intestinal barrier model and the signaling pathways involved. Differentiated Caco-2 cells gene datasets were compared first to intestinal or cancer phenotypes and second to signaling pathway gene datasets. Experimental validations were performed in real-time experiments, immunochemistry, and gene expression analyses on Caco-2 versus co-cultures of Caco-2 and HT29-MTX (10%) cells. Partial maintenance of cancer-cell phenotype in differentiated Caco-2 cells was confirmed and fatty acids merged as potential regulators of cancer signaling pathways. HT29-MTX cells induced morphological changes in Caco-2 cells, slightly increased their proliferation rate and profoundly modified gene transcription of phenotype markers, fatty acid receptors, intracellular transporters, and lipid droplet components as well as functional responses to oleic acid. In vitro, enterocyte phenotype was rescued partially by co-culture of cancer cells with goblet cells and completed through oleic acid interaction with signaling pathways dysregulated in cancer cells.
Keywords: cancer cell lines; co-culture; fatty acids; gene datasets; intestinal barrier; signaling pathways.