title: Spontaneously immortalized epithelial cells from mouse caput epididymidis.
abstract: We report here on the characterization of tissue-culture cell lines derived from primary cultures of the mouse caput epididymidis epithelium. The cell lines were spontaneously immortalized without the use of transforming oncogenes. In defined conditions, our epididymal cells adopted various morphological features that resembles that of the in vivo epididymis epithelium such as a polarized organization and the presence of junctional structures at their apical/lateral membranes as revealed by electron microscopy analyses. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that we were dealing with homogenous cell populations that had reached a near-tetraploid state. RT-PCR assays were used in order to show that several genes that can be considered as markers of in vivo caput epididymidis epithelium activity were expressed in our cell lines confirming that these cells were indeed in a differentiated state close to their endogenous state.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoires Epididyme and Maturation des Gamètes, Université Blaise Pascal-Clermont II, 24 Avenue des Landais, 63177 Aubière Cedex, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Britan
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lareyre
authors.forename: A-M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lefrançois-Martinez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manin
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schwaab
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Greiffeuille
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vernet
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Drevet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004822:Epididymis / Q000166:cytology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015870:Gene Expression; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007444:Inulin / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010539:Permeability; D011123:Polyploidy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007444:Inulin; D004247:DNA; D006854:Hydrocortisone