Characterization of cultured human prostatic epithelial cells by cluster designation antigen expression

Cultured prostatic epithelial cells have been extensively studied as a model of prostate biology. What is the lineage relationship of the cultured cells to the epithelial cell types in tissue? How different are cultured cells derived from tumor tissue to those derived from benign tissue? Expression of cluster designation (CD) cell surface molecules has been shown to be useful in characterizing cells according to lineage. A CD profile was therefore generated for cultured human prostatic epithelial cells and compared with those previously established for basal and luminal epithelial cells in the prostate. Presence of CD44, CD49b, CD49f, and CD104 and absence of CD57 suggests that cultured cells were derived from basal cells of prostatic tissues. However, expression of certain CD antigens characteristic of luminal epithelial cells was also observed in subpopulations of cultured cells. The pattern of CD antigens in cultured cells reflects a phenotype similar to that of transit-amplifying cells that have been described in the prostate. Several CD antigens were found expressed by both cultured prostatic epithelial and stromal cells, and are probably associated with cell proliferation. The CD profiles of cultured epithelial cell strains derived from normal compared with malignant tissues were notably similar to each other and to that of the prostate cancer cell line PC-3. We conclude that cells in culture retain expression of certain lineage-characteristic CD antigens. Furthermore, CD antigens can define subpopulations of cells with differential gene expression.