Immortalized intestinal epithelial cell lines

An intestinal epithelial cell line cultured in vitro which consists of conditionally immortalized intestinal epithelial cells containing heterologous DNA comprising a temperature-sensitive mutant oncogene, wherein the oncogene is selected from the group consisting of adenovirus Ela, SV40 large T antigen, polyomavirus large T antigen, papillomavirus E7, myc, fos, and p53;

• which cell line upon culture at permissive temperatures results in functional protein expressed from said oncogene, thereby effecting the conditionally immortalizing phenotype, and upon shift of the cell line in culture to nonpermissive temperatures from permissive temperatures results in the absence of functional protein expressed from said oncogene thereby causing cessation of cell proliferation and at least the differentiated intestinal epithelial cell phenotype of expression of brush border enzymes sucrase isomaltase and aminopeptidase N and dipeptidyl peptidase IV, and of expression of keratin markers keratin 8 and keratin 21, and of expression of peripheral membrane protein ZO-1.