Culture of epithelial cells from the rat pleura.

Cells obtained by tryptic digestion of the surface of intact adult and fetal Fischer 344 rat lungs were plated on glass fragments. Epithelial cell lines were readily established by selecting fragments with 2 to 10 cells 2 days after plating and growing them in F12 K media containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). These cell lines and new lines that can be easily obtained a provide a reliable source of diploid, density-inhibited epithelial cells. These cells of mesothelial origin may serve as models for the study of mesothelial cells in situ.