Calu-3 is a human

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

cell line commonly used in cancer research and drug development. Calu-3 cells are

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercell ...

and can act as respiratory models in preclinical applications. Calu-3 cells were first derived in 1975 by Germain Trempe and Jorgen Fogh of the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

. The cells were isolated from the

pleural effusion A pleural effusion is accumulation of excessive fluid in the pleural space, the potential space that surrounds each lung. Under normal conditions, pleural fluid is secreted by the parietal pleural capillaries at a rate of 0.6 millilitre per k ...

of a 25-year-old Caucasian male with a lung adenocarcinoma. Trastuzumab Fab-HER2 complex 1N8Z

The Calu-3 cell line grows as an adherent monolayer and overexpresses the ERBB2 gene, leading to active ErbB2/Her2. The cells also express CK7,

occludin Occludin is an enzyme ( EC 1.6) that oxidizes NADH. It was first identified in epithelial cells as a 65 kDa integral plasma-membrane protein localized at the tight junctions. Together with Claudins, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin has bee ...

, and

E-cadherin Cadherin-1 or Epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), (not to be confused with the APC/C activator protein CDH1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''CDH1'' gene. Mutations are correlated with gastric, breast, colorectal, thyroid, and ovarian ...

. Calu-3 cells also have large amounts of

cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a membrane protein and anion channel in vertebrates that is encoded by the ''CFTR'' gene. Geneticist Lap-Chee Tsui and his team identified the CFTR gene in 1989 as the gene linked wi ...

. Calu-3 cells are commonly used as both ''in vitro'' and ''in vivo'' models for drug development against lung cancer. The cells have been used in studies of

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

drug delivery, demonstrating a capacity to intake low molecular weight substances. Calu-3 cells have served as respiratory models for air intake and lung injury due to their responsiveness to foreign substances. The Calu-3 cell line has shown to be useful in the study of

chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride sa ...

ion secretion by lung epithelial cells. The cells may be used in

high-throughput screening High-throughput screening (HTS) is a method for scientific experimentation especially used in drug discovery and relevant to the fields of biology, materials science and chemistry. Using robotics, data processing/control software, liquid handling ...

applications focused on barrier integrity and surface protein expression of lung cells.

External links

Cellosaurus entry for Calu-3

References

{{Reflist, 2 Human cell lines 1975 in biotechnology Lung cancer