Corneal epithelial cells tend to be difficult to maintain in an undiffentiated state in primary culture, and successful efforts to produce an immortalized human line have mostly been limited to methods involving oncogenic transformation. Immortalized Human Corneal Epithelial Cells (HCE-S) emerged spontaneously as colonies within cultures of fibroblasts derived from cadaveric cornea tissue, which were subsequently clonally isolated and passaged to a number of duplications consistent with immortalization. HCE-S retains a high degree of morphological similarity to primary cultures, expresses a suite of markers associated with corneal epithelial cell function (such as ABCG2, cytokeratin 3 and PAX 6 as well as integrins α9 and β1) and exhibits responsiveness to epidermal growth factor in proliferation, migration and scratch wound assays. HCE-S represents a useful tool for the study of many aspects of corneal epithelial cell biology, including regeneration and the response to growth factors, drugs or toxicity, with the added benefit of being able to grow on uncoated substrates in the absence of media supplements commonly required for similar cell lines.
Immortalization Method: Spontaneous
BioSafety Level: II
Organism: Human
Species: Human
Source Organs: Eye
Organ Type: Eye
Growth Properties: Adherent
Morphology: Epithelial
Markers: Pancytokeratin, cytokeratin 3, ABCG2, α9 integrin, PAX 6, β1 integrin
Donor Gender: Female
Propagation: The base medium for this cell line is Prigrow III medium available at
abm, Cat. No. TM003. To make the complete growth medium, add the following components to the base medium: fetal bovine serum (TM999)* to a final concentration of 10% and Penicillin/Streptomycin Solution (G255) to a final concentration of 1%.Change media every 2-3 days.Carbon dioxide (CO
2): 5%, Temperature: +37.0°C.* Do not use heat-inactivated FBS for cell culture unless specified otherwise.
Quality Control: 1) Scanning/transmission electron microscopy analysis; 2) Immunocytochemistry; 3) RT-PCR; 4) Western blot; 5) Scratch wound/proliferation/migration assay
Shipping Condition: Dry Ice
Storage Condition: liquid nitrogen or -180°C
Reference: Notara, M., & Daniels, J. T. (2010). Characterisation and functional features of a spontaneously immortalised human corneal epithelial cell line with progenitor-like characteristics. Brain Research Bulletin, 81(2–3), 279–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2009.08.009