“…Thus, it is possible to establish cell lines from tiny tissues containing a small quantity of cells. [4][5][6][7] Unique morphology specific to proximal tubule Vasopressininduced intracellular calcium increase Kidney tubule cell lines from microdissected nephron segments [4][5][6][7] Distal tubule Intrarenal site-specific actions Cortical and outer medullary collecting duct (OMCD) Terminal proximal tubules (S3 segment) Hepatocyte cell lines (TLR) [2] Liver-specific morphological and biochemical properties inducibility of P450IA1 by 3-methylcholanthrene Gastric surface mucous cells GSM06 and GSM10 [11] PAS-and Con A-positive glycoproteins Tracheal epithelial cell lines, TM01 and TM02-3 [12] High-molecular-weight glycoconjugates, intercellular adhesion molecular-1 (ICAM-1) Colonic epithelial cell line MCE301 [13] Microvilli-like structures, tight junctions and desmosomes, cytoskeletal (acidic cytokeratins and actin), basement membrane (laminin and collagen type IV) junctional complex proteins (ZO-1 and desmoplakin I ϩ II), alkaline phosphatase (a brush border-associated enzyme) Retinal pigment epithelium-derived cell line (RPET) [14] T1-tyrosinase production, cytokeratin, microvilli Gingival epithelial cell lines (GE1 and GE6) [15] Keratins 4 and 13, keratohyalin granules and involucrin Vascular smooth muscle cell lines (SVS30 and SVS24 cells) [8][9][10] ␣-Actin, smooth muscle myosin heavy chain-1, and calponin proliferation-dependent expression Bone marrow stromal cell lines Mesenchymal stem cell and progenitor cell lines Bone marrow stromal cell line (TBR31-2) [16,17] Multipotency of mesenchymal cell differentiation Adipocyte (lipoprotein lipase) Osteoblast (type I collagen and osteocalcin) Chondrocyte (type II and X collagen) Bone marrow stromal cell line (TBR-B) [8][9][10] Muscle cell (desmin) Differentiation potential to smooth muscle h1-calponin, h-caldesmon, SM22␣ and ␣-actin Bone marrow stromal cell line (TBR-series) [16,17] Differentiation potentials to mesenchymal lineages of cells Hematopoietic microenvironment [20][21][22][23]…”