2.3. Cell culture assays
Caco-2 cells from human colon adenocarcinoma were obtained
from the American Type Culture Collection and used in their
terminally differentiated state to mimic small intestine mature
enterocytes. Caco-2 cells were grown and maintained in Dulbecco's
modified Eagle's medium (DMEM, SigmaeAldrich) supplemented
with 10% (v/v) fetal calf serum at 37 C in an atmosphere of 5% CO2/
95% air at constant humidity. For the experiments, Caco-2 cells
were seeded in 24-well tissue plates at 25,000 cells/cm2 density
and grown over 15 days to obtain a monolayer of differentiated and
polarized cells, and the culture medium was changed every 2 days.