title: Clonal growth characteristics of adult human prostatic epithelial cells.
abstract: The ability of human epithelial cells derived from adult prostatic tissues to undergo clonal growth in culture was examined. In a previously described serum-free culture system, such cells exhibited a density-dependent growth requirement. It was found that raising the level of one of the constituents of the culture medium, bovine pituitary extract, to 100 micrograms/ml permitted excellent clonal growth when as few as 100 cells were inoculated/60-mm2 dish. Raising the levels of supplements other than pituitary extract (cholera toxin, epidermal growth factor, hydrocortisone, or insulin) did not produce this result. The average colony-forming efficiency of cells derived from primary or early passage cultures was approximately 25%. When single cell suspensions were prepared from tissue isolates and directly analyzed for clonal growth, colony-forming efficiencies were approximately 5%, perhaps indicating the proportion of stem cells with proliferative potential in the original isolates. The colony-forming efficiency of a cell population derived from cancer tissue was not significantly different from those of populations derived from normal tissues.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Stanford University Medical Center, California 94305.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Peehl
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Stamey
mesh_terms: D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000166:cytology; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D003470:Culture Media; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology; D011467:Prostate / Q000166:cytology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014020:Tissue Extracts; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2