Characteristics of magnetically separated rat tracheal epithelial cell populations.

A simple magnetic separation technique has been developed using lectins specific for two of the cell types found in the tracheal mucosa. The resulting populations of basal and secretory cells were examined for proliferative capacity in culture and in vivo. The basal cell fraction contains the cells that proliferate in culture and respond to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. In addition, the basal cell fraction exhibited the highest proliferative capacity in vivo during the first few days after transplantation. Repopulation of inverted intestinal segments showed that only with suspensions containing a significant proportion of basal cells could a mucociliary lining be established. Segments receiving the same number of unsorted or predominantly mucous secreting cells did not repopulate in vivo. These data support the hypothesis that the basal cell is most likely the stem cell of the tracheal epithelium.