The use of cell and tissue culture techniques in the study of regulatory peptides

Cell and tissue culture preparations have a number of general advantages for the study of biological processes: cells are more accessible for study, diffusion delays and barriers to applied substances are minimised, the humoral and cellular components of the culture environment can be controlled and progressive changes in intracellular and intercellular events can be directly monitored. These significant advantages mean that culture preparations can provide unique opportunities for investigation of the properties and functions of regulatory peptides. Culture preparations also have disadvantages and not all cultures are suitable for use in all types of experiments; therefore, the choice of preparation must be made accordingly. Here we describe different types of culture preparation and give examples where cultures have been used to examine peptide synthesis, storage, secretion and receptor localisation, as well as the short-term and trophic actions of regulatory peptides.