Calu-3 epithelial cells exhibit different immune and epithelial barrier responses from freshly isolated primary nasal epithelial cells in vitro

Katleen Martens; Peter W Hellings; Brecht Steelant

doi:10.1186/s13601-018-0225-8

Calu-3 epithelial cells exhibit different immune and epithelial barrier responses from freshly isolated primary nasal epithelial cells in vitro

Clin Transl Allergy. 2018 Sep 12:8:40. doi: 10.1186/s13601-018-0225-8. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Katleen Martens¹, Peter W Hellings^{1

2

3}, Brecht Steelant¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, Box 811, 3000 Louvain, Belgium.
² 2Clinical Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.
³ 3Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Epithelial cell lines are often used to evaluate the effect of exogenous/endogenous stimuli on epithelial barrier function and innate immune responses in allergic airway diseases, without clear view on differences between epithelial cell lines and primary nasal epithelial cell responses. In this observational study, we compared the response of Calu-3 and primary nasal epithelial cells to two relevant exogenous stimuli: i.e. Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB) and house dust mite (HDM). Stimulation of Calu-3 cells with SEB decreased epithelial integrity in a dose dependent manner, which was associated with a significant increase in IL-6 and IL-8 production. In contrast, no alteration in barrier integrity or IL-6 and IL-8 production was seen when primary nasal epithelial cells were stimulated with SEB. HDM extract altered the integrity of primary nasal epithelial cells, but not of Calu-3 epithelial cells. Increased IL-8 production was seen after stimulation with HDM in primary nasal epithelial cells and not in Calu-3 epithelial cells. In conclusion, immune and barrier function differ between different epithelial cell types studied. As a consequence, care must be taken when interpreting data using different epithelial cell types.

Keywords: Calu-3 epithelial cell line; House dust mite extract; Primary nasal epithelial cells; Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B; Trans-epithelial electrical resistance.