Construction of an apparatus for perfusion cell cultures which enables in vitro experiments under organotypic conditions.

The value of cultured cells in cell biological, pharmaceutical or biotechnological research depends on the degree of terminal cell differentiation. In conventional Petri dishes or tissue culture plates it is often difficult to achieve culture conditions which resemble the in situ situation of intact tissue, as regards optimal cell adhesion, exchange of nutrients and metabolic products. These limitations prompted us to develop simple laboratory tools which optimize the environment of cultured cells. A perfusion apparatus with various culture containers and compatible cell holder sets was constructed which allows the simulation of organotypic conditions. (i) The cells can be kept on individual and interchangeable support materials for an optimal cell attachment. (ii) Culture medium can be perfused during the whole culture period. (iii) One type of the new culture container can be perfused with different media at the apical and basal side of the cells, thus mimicking the organotypic environment that applies for epithelial monolayers. Cell culture experiments with renal collecting duct epithelia exhibited an excellent morphological appearance showing typical features of principal and intercalated cells.