Isolation of pure tympanic membrane epithelial cells and fibroblasts

    TIAN Yongª²Sheng1, DENG Zhiª²Hong1, WANG Jinª²Ling1, JIN Yan2, LIU Yuan2, ZHAO Yu2, LEI Juan2

    1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Xijing Hospital, 2Department of Pathology, College of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To develop a rapid method for the isolation of pure epithelial cells and fibroblasts from tympanic membrane. METHODS: The epithelial cells and fibroblasts were isolated and purified from tympanic membrane by a new twoª²step method used in our lab. The cells were identified by cell morphorlogy and immunostaining. RESULTS: Our cultured tympanic membrane epithelial cells were of characteristic cobblestone morphology and showed a positive reaction keratin. The fibroblasts cultured were spindleª²shaped and showed a positive reaction to antibodies against vimentin. The tympanic membrane epithelial cells and fibroblasts cultures of this processing were free of any contaminants. CONCLUSION: Pure tympanicmembrane epithelial cells and fibroblasts can be easily isolated by our method. ......