Polarized cultures of human airway epithelium from nasal scrapings and bronchial brushings.

Airway epithelial cultures are generally derived from tracheas postmortem or from surgical specimens of nasal polyps or turbinates. Scrapings of the mucosal surface have been little used as starting material for cultures because of their low yield of epithelial cells and their contamination with mucous secretions, blood, and underlying connective tissue. For the first time, we report that human airway epithelial cells obtained from nasal scrapings or bronchial brushings can be grown in culture to produce polarized cell sheets suitable for studies of vectorial transport.