Collagen gel cultures of normal salivary gland: conditions for continued proliferation and maintenance of major cell phenotypes in vitro.

The presence of three functionally and phenotypically distinct epithelial cell populations--acinar, duct, and myoepithelial cells--in major salivary glands creates problems when developing physiologically appropriate culture systems for the study of these tissues in vitro. Previous attempts to establish cultures of rat submandibular gland resulted in continued proliferation and maintenance of glandular architecture, but loss of distinct features of differentiation of the three epithelial cell types. The present study describes an ultrathin free-floating collagen gel culture technique (mantle gels). Using this method, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies indicate that rat submandibular gland continues to cycle, and secretory activity and phenotypic markers for acinar, duct, and myoepithelial cells are all demonstrable after 4 weeks in culture, suggesting that this constitutes the ideal system for in vitro investigation of the pathobiology of the salivary gland.