16HBE14o- epithelial cell line is derived from transformed bronchial
epithelial cells of a 1-year-old heart–lung transplant patient.29 (link) Cultivation of the cells was carried out in
eukaryotic minimal essential medium (eMEM): 1× MEM with Earle’s
salts with 2.2 g/L NaHCO3 (Biochrom AG, Berlin, Germany)
supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS; Biochrom AG), 2%
(v/v)
nonessential amino acids (100×, PAN-Biotech GmbH). The cells
were cultured in 10 cm plates at 37 °C and 5% CO2 in
a humid atmosphere and were kept for no more than 15 passages.
The seeding of the cells was done at a density of 1 × 105 cells/cm2 over a 12 mm Transwell polyester membrane
with 0.4 μm pore size (Corning, Schnelldorf, Germany) to promote
the polarization of the cell layer. Cells were cultured for 3 or 11
days, depending on the desired condition for infection. The volume
of medium on the apical side was 400 μL, and it was 1300 μL
on the basal side. The medium was exchanged every second day until
day eight after which the exchange was done daily.