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2021
Journal Article
Title
Measurements of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) are affected by junctional length in immature epithelial monolayers
Abstract
The measurement of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is a common technique to determine the barrier integrity of epithelial cell monolayers. However, it is remarkable that absolute TEER values of similar cell types cultured under comparable conditions show an immense heterogeneity. Based on previous observations, we hypothesized that the heterogeneity of absolute TEER measurements can not only be explained by maturation of junctional proteins but rather by dynamics in the absolute length of cell junctions within monolayers. Therefore, we analyzed TEER in epithelial cell monolayers of Caco2 cells during their differentiation, with special emphasis on both changes in the junctional complex and overall cell morphology within monolayers. We found that in epithelial Caco2 monolayers TEER increased until confluency, then decreased for some time, which was then followed by an additional increase during junctional differentiation. In contrast, permeability of macromolecules measured at different time points as 4 kDA fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran flux across monolayers steadily decreased during this time. Detailed analysis suggested that this observation could be explained by alterations of junctional length along the cell borders within monolayers during differentiation. In conclusion, these observations confirmed that changes in cell numbers and consecutive increase of junctional length have a critical impact on TEER values, especially at stages of early confluency when junctions are immature.
Author(s)
Kannapin, Felix
Department of General, Visceral, Vascular and Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Schmitz,Tobias
Department for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Hansmann, Jan
Translational Center Regenerative Therapies (TLC-RT), Fraunhofer-Institut für Silicatforschung ISC; Department for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Schlegel, Nicolas
Department of General, Visceral, Vascular and Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany