Human keratinocyte culture from the peritonsillar mucosa.

Tonsillectomy tissue can be used as a routine source for cultures of oropharyngeal keratinocytes. In so doing, a peritonsillar strip of unaltered mucosa was dissected in the upper submucosa. Subsequent trypsinization yielded 7.0 +/- 3.4 x 10(6) keratinocytes per bilateral tonsillectomy. Keratinocyte attachment and growth in primary culture were promoted by sublethally irradiated 3T3 murine fibroblasts. Three subcultures could be performed without a feeder layer and were characterized by a population doubling time of 4.5 days during log growth phase. Electrophoretic and immunoblot analysis of the third subculture revealed a strong expression of keratin pairs 5/14 and 6/16 as well as keratins 7 and 19, whereas keratins 8/18 were expressed less intensely. The lowest intensity, was found for keratin 13, which is known to be indicative of the differentiated mucosa. The culture technique thus provides an easily available in vitro model for morphological and functional studies on the epithelial compartment of human oropharyngeal mucosa.