title: Rat pleural mesothelial cells adapted to serum-free medium as a model for the study of growth factor effects.
abstract: Mesothelial cells are the putative progenitors of mesotheliomas and cell lines have been used as tools to study the responses of these cells to various stimuli, including growth factors. The present study was undertaken to develop a rat mesothelial cell line capable of sustained growth under serum-free conditions with the object of avoiding the possible confounding effects of undefined serum components. Responses of mesothelial cells to epidermal growth factor were shown to differ under serum-free versus low-serum culture conditions. In contrast, a cell line, SFM1, adapted to growth in serum-free medium was characterized and found to exhibit responses to growth factors similar to the responses reported for human cell lines. This new line should prove to be a useful model for the study of these cells in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bermudez
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Libbus
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Mangum
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008954:Models, Biological; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor