Interlaboratory comparison of an intestinal triple culture to confirm transferability and reproducibility

Abstract

The development and improvement of advanced intestinal in vitro models has received increasing attention in recent years. While the availability of relevant in vitro models is pivotal to advance the replacement and reduction of animal use in research, their robustness is a crucial determinant for intra- and interlaboratory reproducibility. We have developed a standard protocol to build a triple culture model combining two types of human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2, HT29-MTX-E12) and macrophages (THP-1), which was tested for transferability and reproducibility between three laboratories. The epithelial tissue barrier development and triple culture stability were investigated as well as the models’ responses to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in terms of barrier integrity, cytotoxicity, and cytokine release. The results of two partner laboratories were compared to previously established benchmark results and quality criteria. For the epithelial co-cultures, the results were overall highly comparable between the laboratories. The addition of THP-1 cells resulted in increased variability and reduced reproducibility. While good correlation was achieved in several endpoints, others showed substantial response differences between the laboratories. Some variations may be addressed with training or demonstrations, whereas others might be related to fundamental differences in the cell lines introduced during routine cell culture and maintenance. Our results underline the importance of interlaboratory transfer studies using standardised experimental procedures, including defined quality criteria and benchmarks, as well as of training when newly establishing complex in vitro models in laboratories.