The growth, differentiation, ciliary beating pattern and frequency of human respiratory ciliated cells in primary culture were studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and by videomicroscopy. The epithelial cells were obtained as outgrowth from explants of adult nasal polyps. When the explants were grown on type-I and type-IV collagen substrates in a standard serum-free, hormone-supplemented medium, a high percentage of ciliated cells (range 29 +/- 5% to 37 +/- 6%) was present within 2 days of culture. After 5 days of culture, the percentage of ciliated cells near the explant was 51 +/- 5%. Most of the cultured ciliated cells (85%) were characterized by individual cilia showing a coordinated movement during the beat cycle and a beating frequency (13.3 +/- 1.3 Hz) similar to that reported in vivo. In the other 15% of the ciliated cells, the dyskinetic cilia were aggregated into clumps and characterized by a rigid and planar bending movement and a lower (P less than 0.01) beating frequency (10.7 +/- 1.4 Hz). It is suggested that the latter type of cell, already described during fetal development, might be an intermediate type of ciliated cell which appears temporarily during the surface respiratory epithelial differentiation.