A549 cells are adenocarcinomic human

alveolar Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit. Uses in anatomy and zoology * Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs ** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte ** Alveolar duct ** Alveolar macrophage * ...

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

epithelial

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

, and constitute a

cell line An immortalised cell line is a population of cells from a multicellular organism which would normally not proliferate indefinitely but, due to mutation, have evaded normal cellular senescence and instead can keep undergoing division. The cell ...

that was first developed in 1972 by D. J. Giard, et al. through the removal and culturing of cancerous lung tissue in the

explant In biology, explant culture is a technique to organotypically culture cells from a piece or pieces of tissue or organ removed from a plant or animal. The term ''explant'' can be applied to samples obtained from any part of the organism. The extracti ...

ed tumor of a 58-year-old caucasian male. The cells are used as models for the study of lung cancer and the development of drug therapies against it.

Characteristics

A549 cells, as found in the lung tissue of their origin, are squamous and responsible for the diffusion of some substances, such as water and electrolytes, across

alveoli Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit. Uses in anatomy and zoology * Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs ** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte ** Alveolar duct ** Alveolar macrophage * ...

. If A549 cells are cultured ''in vitro'', they grow as a monolayer; adherent or attaching to the culture flask. The cells are able to synthesize

lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

and contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, which are important to maintain membrane phospholipids. A549 cells are widely used as a type II pulmonary epithelial cell model for drug metabolism and as a transfection host. When grown for a sufficiently long time in cell culture, A549 cells may begin to differentiate, as signaled by the presence of multilamellar bodies.

Usage

A549 cells have served as models of alveolar Type II pulmonary epithelium, finding utility in research examining the metabolic processing of lung tissue and possible mechanisms of drug delivery to the tissue. In context of lung cancer drug development, the cells have served as testing grounds for novel drugs - such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, and

bevacizumab Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and used for colon cancer, l ...

- both '' in vitro'' and '' in vivo'' through

cell culture Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. The term "tissue culture" was coined by American pathologist Montrose Thomas Burrows. This te ...

and xenografting, respectively. Single-cell tracking of A549 has enabled the elaboration of pedigree-tree profiles and demonstrate correlations in behavior among sister cells. Such observations of correlations can be used as proxy measurements to identify cellular stress and inheritance as a response to drug treatment. A549 has also been employed in viral research and associated protein expression changes as a consequence of viral infection. Although A549 is a cancer cell line, it has also been studied for its response to tuberculosis, specifically the production of chemokines as it is induced by the invading bacteria.

References

External links

Cellosaurus entry for A549
Human cell lines Epithelial cells {{Cell-biology-stub