Abstract:

Objective:The purpose of study aimed atinvestigating the technique of culturing oral epithelia in vitro and to setup an exper- imental model for further reconstructing oral mucosa in vitro.Methods:The oral mucosa was taken from young NewZealand rab- bits, and the mucosa was digested with enzyme and suspended in liquid to form cellular suspension. Being seeded, the cellswere cultured motionlessly. The mediumwas changed regularly and the cellswere subcultured.Results:The cultured cellswere all ep- ithelial cells without fibroblasts, and they were proved to be diploid cells. The cellswere subcultured in 1~13 generationswhich survived for50~60 days.Conclusion:The oral epithelium of youngNewZealand rabbit can be cultured in vitro, maintaining the ability to proliferate in a certain period. It is a pilot study to reconstruct oral tissue in vitro.

Key words: oral epithelium, seed cell, cell culture, in vitro