Patent Application: US-5911205-A

Abstract:
this invention relates to the discovery of autologous stem cells of gastrointestinal origin in fecal matter . more particularly , the invention relates to the isolation and propagation of said stem cells in continuous culture . furthermore , the invention describes a method of directing and converting these gastrointestinal progenitor stem cells into immunoglobulin producing cells that secrete autologous antibodies to an antigen . in addition , the invention describes a method of isolating antibodies secreted by said immunoglobulin producing cells . the invention also describes a method of generating a lineage of antibody producing cells by growing said progenitor stem cells isolated from fecal matter on a feeder layer of tumor cells .

Description:
the present invention is related to the characterization of exfoliated progenitor cells isolated from fecal matter , and to methods relating to their maintenance in continuous culture . it should be noted that these exfoliated progenitor cells isolated from fecal matter are designated as “ stem cells ”, which term herein means that they are self - maintaining , have extensive self - renewing proliferative capacity and can be directed or converted to a differentiated derivative . characterization of the isolated stem cells of the present invention is accomplished by well - established standard methodology including detection of certain cell surface markers through flow cytometry , nuclear staining techniques using propidium iodide , by the expression of epithelial lineage marker cytokeratin - 19 , or by the housekeeping gene β - actin through rt - pcr , and the like 3 - 6 . the growth and maintenance of these stem cells in continuous culture is accomplished in a unique defined medium , both in the presence and absence of antibiotics , and by coating of plates with various epithelial attachment factors . a subset of cells that has been differentially converted into a lineage of immunoglobulin secreting cells has also been accomplished . it was discovered that these stem cells express at least the following cell surface markers : iga , igg , igar , iggr , secretory component , cd8 , cd20 , ssea1 ( stage specific embryonic antigen 1 ), ssea3 , ssea4 , iga + igg , iga + sc , iga + ssea1 , and iga + ssea 37 - 11 . by combining nuclear staining with cell surface marker methodology , it was found that there are at least two different lineage - committed populations of cells . it was further established by isolating mrna and expressing cytokeratin - 19 and β - actin through rt - pcr that these cells are intact and that there is a subpopulation committed to epithelial lineage . the progenitor cells of the present invention grown in culture are mostly in suspension and when these cells were tested with five epithelial cell attachment factors , viz ., collagen type iv , fibronectin , superfibronectin , ecm gel and laminin , it was discovered that a certain population of the these cells does attach itself to all the attachment matrices . it should be understood that unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs . although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention , the methods and materials described herein are preferred . unless mentioned otherwise , the techniques employed or contemplated herein are standard methodologies well known to one of ordinary skill in the art . the materials , methods and examples are only exemplary and not limiting . optimal mass of a fecal sample ( generally about 0 . 5 - 1 . 0 gram ) was collected at normal ambient temperature in a preweighed collection tube containing 15 ml of scsr - t media ( noninvasive technologies , 8170 lark brown road , suite 101 , elkridge . md . 21075 )) and glass beads . the sample was vortexed thoroughly and poured into a 7 ″× 12 ″ doublesided filter bag ( tekmar - dohrmann , cat no . 10 - 0838 - 00 ). the sample was filtered through 40 μm nylon filter ( bd - 352340 ). the resuspended filtered sample from about 0 . 5 g of original fecal matter was removed and the volume was adjusted to 25 ml with scsr - t media ( noninvasive technologies ). ten ml of cushion solution , scsr - c ( noninvasive technologies ) was used to underlay the sample without disturbing the top layer . the samples were spun for 10 minutes at 200 g . after discarding the supernatant the interface was carefully removed into a prelabelled 50 ml tube . the pellet and cushion above the pellet were placed in separate 50 ml tubes . the volume of the pellet and interface was adjusted to 15 ml by adding 1 × pbs ph 7 . 2 and the samples were resuspended by inverting the tubes several times . the supernatant was carefully decanted after spinning the samples at about 2000 rpm , for about 10 minutes at about 4 ° c . ( iec centra - 8r centrifuge ). another 15 ml of 1 × pbs was added to the tubes and the cells were spun again at the conditions mentioned previously . the pellet was resuspended in 1 ml of 1 × pbs ( a cell count was obtained using a z2 beckman coulter ) and 250 μl aliquots of the sample was transferred into four 1 . 5 ml tubes . the cells were spun at about 1500 rpm , for about 10 minutes at about 4 ° c . the supernatant was aspirated and the pellets were resuspended in 50 μl of serum free cell freezing medium ( sigma c2639 ), and stored at − 70 ° c . for archival purposes if they were not used for cell culture . cells were isolated from about 0 . 5 g of stool as described in the procedure above , and the final pellets were resuspended in 1 ml of 1 × pbs ph 7 . 2 and counted using a z2 beckman coulter counter two ml of methocult sf ( 04436 ) and mesencult ( 05401 ) stem cell media , purchased from stemcell technologies inc , was added to four wells of a six well plate . an aliquot containing the number of cells desired from pellet and interface was added to each plate . the cells were maintained in a co 2 incubator ( 5 % co 2 ) at about 37 ° c . for a week before the cells were subcultured , while observations were made everyday . to subculture the cells , 2 ml of sterile 1 × pbs ph 7 . 4 was added to one of the two wells for pellet and interface . the wells were scraped and the contents were pippetted into 15 ml conical tubes . another 5 ml of 1 × pbs ph about 7 . 4 was added to the well to rinse , and the contents were added to 15 ml tube . the samples were spun at about 1500 rpm , for about 10 minutes at about 4 ° c . ( iec centra - 8r centrifuge ). after the supernatant was aspirated , the pellets were resuspended in 2 ml 1 × pbs ph about 7 . 4 . then about 0 . 5 ml of the resuspended cells were added to each well containing the appropriate stem cell medium . fetal bovine serum ( 10 %) in mccoy &# 39 ; s 5a medium ( modified ) supplemented with l - glutamine ( 2 mm ). mesenchymal stem cell stimulatory supplements ( human ) ( stemcell technologies cat no . 05402 ) was added to the mesencult media . flow cytometric studies were conducted for two main categories , namely surface antigen staining and nuclear staining . the surface antigen staining studies were further divided into three categories : direct staining , indirect staining and two color staining . the following markers were tested using direct staining studies with antibodies at the appropriate dilution on the subcultured gip - c cells derived from two separate sources grown in methocult and mesencult stemcell media . ( a ) the presence of iga was tested using two different methods : ( i ) goat anti human 19a fitc ( o chain specific ) ( sigma , f2879 ) and ( ii ) jacalin fitc from artocarpus integrfolia ( ey laboratories , f6301 - 2 ). ( b ) secretory component : fitc conjugated igg fraction of goat polyclonal antiserum to human secretory component , free and bound ( nordic immunology , 3913 ). ( c ) igg : anti human igg ( y chain specific ) pe conjugate developed in goat ( sigma , p8047 ). ( d ) fcr / igg receptor ( iggr ): human igg fitc ( sigma , f9636 ). ( e ) cd8 : mouse monoclonal anti cd8 clone uchta fitc conjugate ( sigma , f0772 ). ( f ) cd4 : mouse monoclonal anti cd4 clone q4120 fitc conjugate ( sigma , f1773 ). ( g ) cd19 : mouse monoclonal antibody , clone 4g7 fitc conjugate ( becton dickinson , 347543 ). ( h ) cd34 : monoclonal antibody from mouse ( anti - hpca - 2 ) clone 8g12 fitc conjugate ( becton dickinson , 348053 ). ( i ) cd45 : monoclonal antibody from mouse , clone 2d1 fitc conjugate ( becton dickinson , 347463 ). ( j ) cd45ra : monoclonal anti - human cd45ra fitc conjugate , clone f8 - 11 - 13 ( sigma , f1527 ). ( k ) cd54 : monoclonal antibody from mouse , clone lb - 2 pe conjugate ( becton dickinson , 347977 ). ( l ) cd117 : monoclonal antibody from mouse , clone 104d2 , pe conjugate ( becton dickinson , 340529 ). the subcultured gip - c cells from the two samples , a and b , that were stored in freezing media , at − 70 ° c ., were washed in 1 ml of 1 × pbs 1 % bsa . the cells were spun down at 1500 rpm for five minutes ( iec centra - 8r centrifuge ), aspirated and resuspended in 0 . 5 or 1 ml of pbs 1 % bsa depending on the cell counts . flow cytometric studies were conducted with 100 , 000 - 200 , 000 cells which were aliquoted into 5 ml polystyrene round bottom tubes ( bd falcon , 352054 ) and the volume was adjusted to 100 μl with 1 × pbs 1 % bsa . between 10 μl - 20 μl of antibody , diluted in pbs containing 1 % bsa was added to each sample . the samples were then incubated for an hour at 37 ° c . while gently mixing . they were then washed twice by adding 2 ml of cold 1 × pbs 1 % bsa per tube and mixed against the side of the rack , and spun at 2000 rpm for five minutes at 4 ° c . ( iec centra - 8r centrifuge ), and the supernatant was removed . the cells were then resuspended in 1 ml of 5 % paraformaldehyde . the samples were stored at 4 ° c . until analyzed . the following markers were used for indirect staining studies with subcultured gip - c cells ( a and b ) using antibodies with appropriate dilutions . the antibodies for the markers tested were added in the following order : ( a ) iga receptor ( igar ): monoclonal anti human iga ( α chain specific ), clone ga - 112 ( sigma , 10636 )+ human iga pure from human colostrum ( sigma , 11010 )+ goat anti human iga fitc . ( b ) cd20 : monoclonal anti human cd20 purified mouse immunoglobulin ( sigma , c8080 )+ anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) fitc conjugate developed in rabbit ( sigma , f9137 ). ( c ) ssea1 : mouse anti ssea1 monoclonal antibody clone mc480 , immunogen : f9 teratocarcinoma stemcells ( x - irradiated ), ( mab4301 chemicon )+ anti mouse igg fitc conjugate . ( d ) ssea3 : mouse anti ssea3 monoclonal antibody , clone mc 631 , immunogen : 4 - 8 cell stage mouse embryos , ( mab4303 chemicon )+ anti mouse igg fitc conjugate . ( e ) ssea4 : mouse anti ssea4 monoclonal antibody clone mc - 813 - 70 , immunogen : human embryonal carcinoma cell line 210ep , ( mab4304 chemicon )+ anti mouse igg fitc conjugate . the procedure of indirect staining was similar to that of direct staining , the only difference being the length of the incubation period , which was 30 minutes at 37 ° c . for each antibody that was added to the cells . the following markers were used for two color staining studies with subcultured gip - c cells initially from both a and b methocult and mesencult samples , but later only from b mesencult pellet and interface cells from passages 38 and 40 . the antibodies for the markers tested were added in the following order : ( note : the first two markers were initially tested with a and b samples , added during separate incubations at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes ) ( a ) iga ( fitc )+ sc ( pe ): goat anti human iga fitc + mouse monoclonal anti - human sc ( sigma , 16635 )+ rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe ( sigma , p 0313 ). ( b ) iga ( jacalin fitc )+ sc ( pe ): jacalin fitc ( artocarpus integrifolia )+ mouse monoclonal anti - human sc + rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe . ( c ) iga fitc + ssea1 pe : goat anti human iga fitc ( α chain specific )+ mouse anti ssea1 monoclonal antibody clone mc480 + rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe . ( d ) igg ( pe )+ ssea1 ( fitc ): anti human igg ( y chain specific ) pe conjugate + mouse anti ssea1 monoclonal antibody clone mc480 + anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) fitc . ( e ) iga ( fitc )+ igg ( pe ): goat anti human iga fitc + anti human igg pe . ( f ) igg ( pe )+ iga ( fitc ): anti human igg pe + goat anti human iga fitc . ( g ) fga ( fitc )+ ssea3 ( pe ): goat anti human iga fitc + rat anti ssea3 monoclonal antibody , clone mc 631 + rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe . ( h ) igg ( pe )+ ssea3 ( fitc ): anti human igg pe + rat anti ssea3 monoclonal antibody , clone mc 631 + anti mouse igg fitc . ( i ) iga ( fitc )+ ssea4 ( pe ): goat anti human iga fitc + mouse anti ssea4 monoclonal antibody clone mc - 813 - 70 + rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe . ( j ) igg ( pe )+ ssea4 ( fitc ): anti human igg pe + mouse anti ssea4 monoclonal antibody clone mc - 813 - 70 + anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) fitc . ( k ) iga ( fitc )+ cd20 ( pe ): goat anti human iga + monoclonal anti human cd20 + rabbit anti mouse igg ( whole molecule ) pe . the antibodies were added in the given order and incubated separately at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes . some of the markers tested above were added together and incubated overnight at 4 ° c . as well . they were as follows : ( a ) iga ( fitc )+ igg ( pe ); ( b ) iga ( fitc )+ cd20 ( pe ); ( c ) iga ( fitc )+ ssea3 ( pe ). the markers that needed the addition of a secondary antibody carrying a fitc or pe label were added after the first wash , after the overnight incubation , and then incubated for a half hour at 37 ° c . the nuclear staining studies were done initially by adding propidium iodide staining solution to the subcultured gip - c cells and later to subcultured gip - c cells that were initially stained with fluorescently - labelled antibodies . the procedures for both the studies were as follows : propidium iodide ( bd biosciences ) was dissolved in pbs ( ph 7 . 4 ) at the concentration of 50 μg / ml . two tubes of one million gip - c cells from five different subcultured samples were used . the samples were as follows . five different subcultured samples were chosen for this study : c : methocult pellet , a : methocult interface , b : methocult pellet , e : mesencult pellet and d : methocult interface . the cells were scraped and washed with pbs ph 7 . 4 and a cell count was obtained . the cells were spun down and then resuspended in pbs + 1 % bsa . two tubes of one million gip - c cells were obtained from each sample . propidium iodide ( 50 μl of 50 μg / ml ) was added to one tube of each sample to a 0 . 7 ml cell suspension the total volume being 950 μl . np40 ( 200 μl , 0 . 5 % in pbs 7 . 2 ) was added to the other set of tubes of gip - c cells and they were put on ice for 15 minutes . propidium iodide ( 50 μl of 50 μg / ml ) was added to the cells in np40 . both sets of cell were run on the flow cytometer after vortexing the samples . another set of propidium iodide studies were done with stained gip - c cells . propidium iodide ( 10 μl of 50 μg / ml ) was added to gip - c cells stained with the following markers : ( a ) igg ( pe )+ iga ( fitc ), ( b ) iga ( fitc ), ( c ) iga ( fitc )+ ssea1 ( pe ), ( d ) igg ( pe )+ ssea1 ( fitc ), ( f iga ( fitc )+ ssea3 ( pe ), ( g ) igg pe + ssea3 ( fitc ), ( h ) iga ( fitc )+ ssea4 ( pe ), ( i ) igg ( pe )+ ssea4 ( fitc ), ( i ) iga ( fitc )+ cd20 ( pe ), ( j ) iga ( fitc )+ igg ( pe ). the antibodies for the above mentioned markers were added and incubated individually at 37 ° c . for a half hour period . a third set of propidium iodide studies were done where the primary antibodies for two color markers were added together and incubated at 4 ° c . overnight initially and after a wash the secondary antibody was added and incubated at 37 ° c . for a half hour before being fixed . propidium iodide ( 10 μl of 50 μg / ml ) was added to the following markers : ( a ) iga ( fitc )+ igg ( pe ), ( b ) iga ( fitc )+ cd20 ( pe ) and ( c ) iga ( fitc )+ ssea3 ( pe ). mrna from subcultured gip - c cells were isolated using the procedure described by nair et al 2 . also a pcr was run testing the presence of o - actin ( housekeeping gene ), and cytokeratin 19 ( marker for epithelial lineage ) primers . the sequences of the primers used were as follows : a 100 × antibiotic / antimycotic mixture was obtained from sigma ( a5955 ). six different concentrations of antibiotic / antimycotic were used in mesencult media . the concentrations used were as follows : 0 ×, 115 ×, 215 ×, 315 ×, 415 × and 1 ×. half a million cells of specimen a mesencult pellet and interface cells were added to 1 . 5 ml of different concentrations of antibioticimycotic mixture in mesencult media . the cells were incubated at 37 ° c . for a week , and were observed daily . initially triplets were made of the same concentrations , but a week later the triplets of each concentrations were combined and subcultured and resuspended in mesencult media containing the appropriate concentrations of antibiotic / mycotic mixture . cell counts were obtained from all of the subcultured samples . in order to observe the cells under the hemocytometer , the subcultured gip - c cells which were exposed to the antibiotic / mycotic mixture had to be washed initially . the procedure is as follows : 0 . 5 ml of gip - c cells were obtained from ox and 1 × samples . a solution containing 50 mg of ncl006 ( noninvasive technologies ) in 5 ml of mesencult media was made . one ml of the mixture was added to 0 . 5 ml of the gip - c cells and mixed . after waiting for 5 minutes the cells were spun for 5 minutes at 2000 rpm at 4 ° c . ( iec centra - 8r centrifuge ). this step was repeated once again . the pellet was resuspended in 0 . 5 ml of mesencult media , and added to another 0 . 5 ml of media with the appropriate concentration of antibiotic / mycotic mixture . a small aliquot of cells were taken and observed under the hemocytometer , while the rest of the gip - c cells were incubated at 37 ° c . in the antibiotic / mycotic media . two of the six well plates were coated with the following attachment factors : collagen type iv , fibronectin , superfibronectin , ecm gel and laminin . collagen type iv ( 2 mg / ml ) was made by dissolving 0 . 75 mg of collagen in 375 μl of sterilized 0 . 25 % acetic acid . collagen type iv ( 187 . 5 μl ) was used to coat two wells and incubated overnight at 2 - 8 ° c . fibronectin ( 250 μl of 10 μg / ml ) was used to coat each well and air - dried at room temperature for 45 minutes . superfibronectin ( 250 μl of 5 μg / ml ) was used to coat each well and incubated at 37 ° c . for two hours . the wells were then washed twice with 100 μl of pbs , and left to air dry in a laminar flow hood . ecm gel was thawed overnight before use ; 250 μl of ecm gel was mixed with 250 μl of cold dmem medium before using 250 μl of the mixture to coat precooled wells . the ecm gel was then left for five minutes at 20 ° c . for the gel to polymerize . an aliquot of 200 μg / 200 μl of laminin was thawed at 4 ° c . for 2 - 4 hrs before making a dilution using 36 μl of stock solution and diluting it with 464 μl of sterile pbs . laminin ( 250 μl , 18 μg / well ) was used to coat each well . the plates with laminin were then air - dried for 45 minutes . all of the plates containing the attachment factors were sterilized overnight by exposure to uv light in a sterile tissue culture hood . rpmi 1640 media ( 250 ml ) was obtained from invitrogen ( 11875 - 085 ), to which the following supplements were added : 100 ng / ml of cholera - toxin ( sigma , c8052 ), 500 ng / ml of hydrocortisone ( sigma , h0888 ), 5 % of heat inactivated horse serum ( gibco , 16050 - 130 ) and 25 ml of mesenchymal supplement ( stemcell technologies , 05402 ). after the media was filter sterilized and aliquots of 26 ml were made , they were stored at 4 ° c . rpmi 1640 media with all the supplements was warmed at 37 ° c . two ml of the media was added to each well containing the attachment factors along with 3 control wells which contained no attachment factors . cells previously subcultured in mesencult medium were pelleted and divided into 100 , 000 cells per well and incubated at 37 ° c . the cells were observed under a phase - contrast microscope . once , every two days the top layer containing the unattached gip - c cells was removed , washed and resuspended in freezing media . two ml of rpmi 1640 media with the supplements was added to the wells and incubated at 37 ° c . a number of markers were tested on the subcultured progenitor cells using flow cytometry . the following table displays the statistics on the percentage of progenitor cells expressing the markers tested : flow cytometric studies with progenitor cells were negative for the expression of the following markers : cd19 , cd34 , cd45 , cd45ra , cd54 and cd117 . there was a small population of cells containing cd8 ( 1 . 3 %), a t - cell marker , and about 38 . 5 % of cells containing cd20 , a b - cell marker . coexpession studies of iga + sc ( secretory component ) were performed using anti iga antibody as well as jacalin fitc ( which recognizes iga ). without being bound to any theory , it is hypothesized that the antibody against iga initiated a biological activity in cells which led to masking or endocytosis or even reorientation of iga in the membrane which produced low detection levels of free iga ( this phenomenon was also detected with other combination studies discussed below ). while for non - antibody marker ( jacalin fitc ) such biological activity was not elicited , these studies along with backgating exercises and histogram analysis showed that most of the progenitor cells coexpressed iga + sc on the same cell . the existence of cells containing only iga as well as secretory component was also observed . two - color flow cytometric studies to elicit coexpression of iga + igg showed the presence of four different populations of cells : cells with iga , cells with igg , cells with iga + igg , and cells containing neither iga nor igg . similar two - color studies of iga and igg with different stage specific embryonic antigens indicated that there might be lineage - directed changes in which some stem cells are transformed into immunoglobulin secreting cells while others continue dividing thereby maintaining a pool of progenitor cells available for lineage directed differentiation under appropriate conditions . when iga was combined with cd20 , the cd20 appeared to hinder the iga binding to the cells , indicating an interaction that results in release of iga + cd20 into supernatant . propidium iodide studies demonstrated that all the cells were nucleated , but not all nucleated cells necessarily carried the cell surface markers which were tested . when flow cytometry studies were combined with nuclear staining studies containing propidium iodide an upward shift in the population from the unstained region was observed . this was parallel to the shift seen in the lr quadrant events . when propidium iodide was added to cells stained with the three stage specific embryonic antigens ( 1 , 3 and 4 ), about 5 % of cells were nucleated and carried the marker for sseal and 4 , whereas , for ssea3 , 20 % of the cells were nucleated and carried the marker . this suggested that there might be two populations for stage specific embryonic antigens in existence , one of which ( ssea3 ) was older than ssea1 and ssea4 . this could indicate the existence of more nucleated cells in the ssea3 population . for the next set of combination studies with iga or igg with sseas , a similar shift was observed when propidium iodide was added . this appearance of two distinct populations of cells indicated that there existed cells with different amounts of dna . this phenomenon was also seen with iga + cd20 when propidium iodide was added . expression of β - actin and cytokeratin 19 by the subcultured gip - c cells mrna was isolated from subcultured progenitor cells and then rt - pcr was performed to see if the cells expressed β - actin and cytokeratin 19 . the subcultured cells expressed both β - actin and cytokeratin 19 proving that these cells were eukaryotic , some of which were of epithelial lineage . it is a generally recognized fact that cells lining the large bowel ( colon ) are in constant contact with a large microbial population and are adapted to this environment . in a similar manner gip - c cells also had high levels of bacteria associated with them , a condition that persisted even when the gip - c cells were being grown in continuous culture . to observe the effect of antibiotics on the growth of these progenitor gip - c cells , they were grown in culture with varying concentrations of antibiotic / antimycotic mixture . the cell counts taken at different times were as follows : there was no consistent trend indicating a drop in the cell counts with increasing concentrations of antibiotic / antimycotic mixture . ncl006 ( noninvasive technologies ), 0 . 5 % in pbs was used to wash the cells and clear the mucous before viewing the cells under a phase contrast microscope . although the number of gip - c cells had decreased considerably after each subculture , they still seemed to be growing and dividing in the presence of antibiotic / antimycotic mixture . there were some remnants of bacteria left in the higher antibiotic concentrations , but the media was mostly clear . at higher concentrations of antibiotic / antimycotic mixture gip - c cells appeared to be larger in size . cell counts were taken of gip - c cells in sizes ranging from 1 - 3 μm , 2 - 5 μm , and 5 - 8 μm from the second subculture after washing with ncl006 . the counts were as follows : the gastrointestinal progenitor cells in culture were found mostly in suspension in the culture media . in order to test the adherence of these cells a study was conducted where they were plated on tissue culture wells coated with each of the five different epithelial cell attachment factors : collagen type iv , laminin , superfibronectin , fibronectin , and ecm gel . there were three control wells with no attachment factors in them . the cell counts obtained were as follows : even though most attachment factors seem to attach the cells , certain attachment factors such as collagen type iv , superfibronectin and ecm gel seemed to be better at attaching cells from 2 - 5 μm . as seen from the above data , there were also some cells of 5 - 8 μm that were attached to the five different attachment factors . it seemed that a certain population of cells was attached and others were in suspension , and the degree of attachment varied with the different attachment factors used . culturing gip - c cells on feeder layer of mitomycin c treated ht - 29 cells for inducing immunoglobulin producing lineage 1 . grow ht - 29 cells in mccoy 5a medium containing 10 % fbs to confluency 2 . remove medium and wash cells with pbs − 2 times 3 . add 15 ml of 10 ng / ml mitomycin c stock solution to each flask and swirl to cover surface 4 . incubate at 37 ° c . for 3 hours 5 . after incubation , aspirate off the mitomycin c and wash 3 times with 20 ml of pbs 6 . add trypsin edta to remove the cells and add mccoy 5a medium containing 10 % fetal bovine serum to stop the trypsin action 7 . wash the cells three times with 20 ml of pbs at 2000 rpm for 10 min . 8 . check the cell count and suspend the cells in medium adjusting the density to about 3 . 5 × 10 5 cells / ml and put them in a tissue culture flask as follows : ( note : cells should not be frozen after mitomycin c treatment .) 1 . seed the mitomycin c treated cells ( at about 3 . 5 × 10 5 cells / ml ) in t - 75 flask 2 . allow the cells to attach for at least 2 hrs or preferably overnight 3 . take frozen gip - c cells at − 70 ° c ., which have already been grown in mesencult medium from interface and pellet fractions 4 . wash the gip - c in cold pbs at 2000 rpm for 10 min 5 . seed these cultured gip - c cells in 2 flasks / in rpmi - 1640 medium containing 5 % horse serum ( hs ) ( heat - inactivated and preadsorbed igg ) from each fraction of interface and pellet . also , take 2 flasks of mitomycin c treated ht - 29 cells with complete rpm i 1640 medium alone as control . 6 . grow the cells for one week at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 without changing or adding the medium . mitomycin c stock : ( it is toxic , wear gloves and use caution when handling ) prepare 1 mg / ml of pbs , store the solution in dark by covering the tube with aluminum foil and use within 2 weeks . diluted stock # 1 ( 10 μg / ml ): take 20 μl of stock ( 1 mg / ml ), and add 2 ml of medium . diluted stock # 2 ( 10 ng / ml ): take 100 μl of diluted stock # 1 , and add 100 ml of medium . a ) dilute hs to 50 % by mixing 1 volume of hs with 1 volume of rpmi - 1640 medium . b ) adsorb 3 volumes of 50 % hs with 1 volume of protein a agarose packed beads . c ) stir at 4 ° c . overnight . d ) centrifuge at 4500 rpm for 10 min . remove the supernatant and use it as preadsorbed hs . e ) regenerate protein a agarose according to the protocol . i ) add 5 ml of absolute ethanol to 5 mg of product , gently swirl to dissolve . ii ) prepare 25 aliquots of 200 μl each and store at − 20 ° c . iii ) just before use , take 100 μl of stock solution and add 1 . 9 ml of rpmi 1640 medium . 2 . hydrate 1 g of protein a agarose ( cat .# p - 0932 ) in about 20 ml of phosphate buffer a . it should swell to about 4 ml packed volume , wash 2 times with 20 ml of phosphate buffer . 3 . resuspend 4 ml of beads in 4 ml of buffer a ( double the packed volume ) 4 . to each of 4 tubes containing filtered culture supernatant , add 1 ml of bead suspension from above ( 500 μl of packed volume or about 8 equal parts ) to each tube , mix the beads well with the culture supernatant . leave 8 tubes on the rocker platform for 2 hrs at room temp . make sure that beads mix well with the culture supernatant well . 5 . centrifuge samples at 5000 rpm for 5 min at room temp . 6 . remove supernatant , combine supernatants from all 3 tubes of test interface , 3 tubes of test pellet and 2 tubes of control separately , save it as wash # 1 interface , and wash # 1 pellet . wash the beads with 10 ml of buffer a by repeating step # 4 twice , save the wash both times , separately as wash # 2 and wash # 3 7 . read absorbance at 280 nm for all 3 washes , absorbance in wash # 3 must be zero 8 . suspend the beads in about 1 ml of buffer a each , and pool them in one tube . 9 . remove supernatant and suspend the beads in 750 μl buffer b , ph 4 . 0 per tube , leave the tubes at rt for 15 min , mixing tubes 2 - 3 times during elution 10 . centrifuge at 5000 rpm for 5 min at rt 11 . remove the supernatant from each and collect it in a clean tube ( eluate1 ) 12 . neutralize the eluate using prestandardised volume of 1 m tris hcl , ph 9 . 0 (˜ 28 μl of 1 m tris hcl / 750 μl ) 13 . repeat steps # 7 -# 9 once again using 750 μl of buffer b , ph 4 . 0 . neutralize using 1 m tris hcl , ph 9 . 0 as above ( eluate 2 ) 14 . check the ph at this point to make sure that ph is close to 7 . 0 15 . read absorbance at 280 nm for eluate 1 and 2 from interface , and pellet ( use bsa as standard @ 1 mg / ml ). 16 . dialyze against sterile 0 . 9 % nacl and concentrate to the required volume 17 . centrifuge at 5000 rpm for 10 min . example embodiments of the present invention have now been described in accordance with the above advantages . it will be appreciated that these examples are merely illustrative of the invention and not limitations thereof . many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and all such modifications and variations are included within the purview and scope of the appended claims . 1 . marshman e , booth c , potten c . the intestinal epithelial stem cell . bioessays 2002 , 24 : 91 - 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