Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Using Caco-2 Cells to Study Lipid Transport by the Intestine
Published on: August 20, 2015
Receptor-Mediated Transcytosis of Leptin through Human Intestinal Cells In Vitro
Philippe G Cammisotto1, Moise Bendayan, Alain Sané
1Departments of Pathology and Cell Biology, University of Montreal, 2900, Bd Edouard-Montpetit, Montreal, Canada H3T 1J4.
Abstract:
Gastric Leptin is absorbed by duodenal enterocytes and released on the basolateral side towards the bloodstream. We investigated in vitro some of the mechanisms of this transport. Caco-2/15 cells internalize leptin from the apical medium and release it through transcytosis in the basal medium in a time- temperature-dependent and saturable fashion. Leptin receptors are revealed on the apical brush-border membrane of the Caco-2 cells. RNA-mediated silencing of the receptor led to decreases in the uptake and basolateral release. Leptin in the basal medium was found bound to the soluble form of its receptor. An inhibitor of clathrin-dependent endocytosis (chlorpromazine) decreased leptin uptake. Confocal immunocytochemistry and the use of brefeldin A and okadaic acid revealed the passage of leptin through the Golgi apparatus. We propose that leptin transcytosis by intestinal cells depends on its receptor, on clathrin-coated vesicles and transits through the Golgi apparatus.
Related Concept Videos
Lipid Absorption
These breakdown products bind with bile salts and lecithin to form micelles, which quickly pass between microvilli to come in close contact with the apical...
Glucose Absorption Into the Small Intestine
Methods for Studying Drug Absorption: In vitro
The diffusion cell method uses a two-compartment cell, including a donor compartment with the drug solution, which simulates the environment where the drug is applied, and a receptor compartment with a buffer solution, which simulates the environment...
Transcellular Transport of Solutes
Receptor-mediated Endocytosis
Absorption of Nutrients
Enterocytes, which are specialized polar epithelial cells, line the mucosa of the small intestinal walls. These cells...

