Expression profiling of 3D 2D MDCKII epithelial morphogenesis

Formation of epithelial tissues requires the generation of apical-basal polarity and the co-ordination of this polarity between neighboring cells to form a central lumen. MDCK cell line has proven to be a powerful model to study mammalian polarized epithelia in vitro. MDCK cells plated in extracellular matrix (ECM) form cysts, a spherical structure of polarized cells enclosing a central lumen which resembles epithelial tubular structures. The morphogenetic process requires drastic changes in cell architecture, which are regulated by change in gene expression. We used microarrays to identify genes up-regulated in lumen formation. The identification of up-regulated genes could lead us to characterize novel pathways needed for this process. MDCKII cells were plated in two different conditions: Cells cultured in confluence in plastic dishes, forming polarized monolayers (2D); or cells cultured in plastic dishes covered with Matrigel (ECM) forming three dimensional cysts (3D). Comparison of both transcriptomic profiles would lead us to identify up-regulated genes in the 3D condition, which would be good candidates to be key regulators of novel processes involved in lumen morphogenesis.