Isolation of intestinal epithelial cells and evaluation of transport functions.

Epithelial cells can be isolated from the small intestine of chickens by a procedure involving hyaluronidase treatment of the intact tissue. The isolated cells retain a high degree of functional activity as assessed by the formation of 70-fold gradients of alpha-MG. Stability of the sugar gradients reflects maintenance of stable electrochemical Na+ gradients across the plasma membrane. The cells can be used to evaluate the properties of Na(+)-dependent sugar transport, Na(+)-independent sugar transport, ion transport, metabolism, membrane potentials, and the integration of these events, all of which are important to achieving a stable sugar gradient.