An organ-culture method for human colorectal mucosa using serum-free medium

This study describes an explant organ-culture system in which human colonic mucosa can be maintained for prolonged periods in serum-free medium. Following an initial phase of epithelial cell loss, there was intense regenerative activity, with the reformation of tubular crypts. Estimation of crypt lengths revealed a marked reduction after 5 and 9 days in culture with corresponding increases in labelling indices for the whole crypt. The shapes of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-flash-labelling distribution curves were consistent with a proliferative compartment situated within the lower two-thirds of the crypt. We conclude that this is a useful in vitro model for the study of the effects of growth factors and growth-inhibitory agents in respect of cell proliferation in human colonic mucosa.