Phenotypic characterization of telomerase-immortalized primary non-malignant and malignant tumor-derived human prostate epithelial cell lines

Yongpeng Gu, Hongzhen Li, Jun Miki, Kee Hong Kim, Bungo Furusato, Isabell A. Sesterhenn, Wei Sing Chu, David G. McLeod, Shiv Srivastava, Charles M. Ewing, William B. Isaacs, Johng S. Rhim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

In vitro human prostate cell culture models are critical for clarifying the mechanism of prostate cancer progression and for testing preventive and therapeutic agents. Cell lines ideal for the study of human primary prostate tumors would be those derived from spontaneously immortalized tumor cells; unfortunately, explanted primary prostate cells survive only short-term in culture, and rarely immortalize spontaneously. Therefore, we recently have generated five immortal human prostate epithelial cell cultures derived from both the benign and malignant tissues of prostate cancer patients with telomerase, a gene that prevents cellular senescence. Examination of these cell lines for their morphologies and proliferative capacities, their abilities to grow in low serum, to respond to androgen stimulation, to grow above the agar layer, to form tumors in SCID mice, suggests that they may serve as valid, useful tools for the elucidation of early events in prostate tumorigenesis. Furthermore, the chromosome alterations observed in these immortalized cell lines expressing aspects of the malignant phenotypes imply that these cell lines accurately recapitulate the genetic composition of primary tumors. These novel in vitro models may offer unique models for the study of prostate carcinogenesis and also provide the means for testing both chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)831-843
Number of pages13
JournalExperimental cell research
Volume312
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2006

Keywords

  • Immortalization
  • Primary non-malignant prostate cell lines
  • Primary prostate tumor cell lines
  • Telomerase

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cell Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Phenotypic characterization of telomerase-immortalized primary non-malignant and malignant tumor-derived human prostate epithelial cell lines'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this