ABSTRACT
The use of cell culture as part of pharmaceutical science investigations has dramatically increased over the last 20 years to the point where it has become almost a non-specialist technique. In the following chapters of this textbook the reader will be introduced to various cell culture protocols from the isolation of cells from tissue and their subsequent use in primary cultures, e.g. isolation and culture of alveolar type-II cells (Chapter 12), or the isolation of brain microvascular cells and their use, following passage or subculture, as finite cell lines (Chapter 18), through to the extensive exploitation of a wide range of continuous cell lines whose growth in culture is not limited and does not require the repeated need to undertake demanding tissue and cell isolation procedures. To provide a framework for the understanding of the following chapters, and with consideration that the text is aimed primarily at the early postgraduate student level, it is the aim of this contribution to inform the reader of the varied nature of cell growth characteristics in culture. Concurrently, it is anticipated that many aspects of the basic terminology used in this discipline will be clarified. Furthermore, a basic overview of tight junctional physiology and regulation will be provided, as this is an implicit feature of all transepithelial or transendothelial transport investigations.
