In the present investigation, the uptake and transport kinetics of valacyclovir (VACV), 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), and benzylpenicillin (BENZ) were studied in stably transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK)/human peptide transporter 1 (hPepT1)-V5&His clonal cell lines expressing varying levels of epitope-tagged hPepT1 protein (low, medium, and high expression) and in Caco-2 cells to del...

We have studied caveolin-1 expression and the frequency and distribution of typical invaginated caveolae as they are identified by electron microscopy in the polarized epithelial cell lines MDCK II and Caco-2. In wild-type MDCK II cells caveolin expression is high and more than 400 caveolae/mm filter were observed at the basolateral membrane. No caveolae were found at the apical surface. By con...

The intracellular mechanisms that mediate cytochalasin-induced increase in intestinal epithelial tight junction (TJ) permeability are unclear. In this study, we examined the involvement of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) in this process, using the filter-grown Caco-2 intestinal epithelial monolayers. Cytochalasin B (Cyto B) (5 microg/ml) produced an increase in Caco-2 MLCK activity, which corr...

We investigated the expression pattern of Dkk-3, a secreted Wnt pathway inhibitor, in mouse intestinal tissue and three-dimensional cultured Caco-2 spheroids. Dkk-3 was expressed at the bottom of crypts from the mouse small intestine. Human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells expressed Dkk-3 under a semi-confluent condition, but Dkk-3 expression was seen in only some of the Caco-2 cells when the ...

Literature indicates that peptic and tryptic peptides derived from the enzymatic hydrolysis of lupin protein are able to modulate cholesterol metabolism in human hepatic HepG2 cells and that part of these peptides are absorbed in a small intestine model based on differentiated human Caco-2 cells. In this paper, a co-culture system, including Caco-2 and HepG2 cells, was investigated with two obj...

Invasion in and translocation across enterocytes are major events during Campylobacter jejuni-induced enteritis in humans. C. jejuni in vitro infection of cell monolayers typically results in loss of tight junction integrity, which could contribute to translocation. In the present study, we wanted to investigate whether butyrate is able to confer protection to Caco-2 cells against C. jejuni inv...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a multidrug-resistant pathogen and one of the leading causes of nosocomial infection worldwide. Probiotic bacteria play a significant role in preventive or therapeutic interventions of gastrointestinal infections in human as well as animals. In this study, we have investigated the adhesion property of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus ferme...

Chemoresistance in multidrug-resistant (MDR) cells over expressing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) encoded by the MDR1 gene, is a major obstacle to successful chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Previous studies have indicated that sinomenine can enhance the absorption of various P-gp substrates. In the present study, we investigated the effect of sinomenine on the chemoresistance in colon cancer cells a...

Breaking the balance between proliferation and differentiation in animal cells can lead to cancer, but the mechanisms maintaining this balance remain largely undefined. The calcium activated chloride channel A1 (CLCA1) is a member of the calcium sensitive chloride conductance family of proteins and is expressed mainly in the colon, small intestine and appendix. We show that CLCA1 plays a functi...

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes severe disease in immunosuppressed patients and notably infects the gastrointestinal tract. To understand the interaction of CMV with intestinal epithelial cells, which are highly susceptible to CMV infection in vivo, we used the intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2 and demonstrated that CMV enters predominantly through the basolateral surface of polarized C...