Technical note: Method for isolation of the bovine sweat gland and conditions for in vitro culture

Apocrine sweat glands in bovine skin are involved in thermoregulation. Human, horse, and sheep sweat gland epithelial cells have been isolated and grown in vitro. The present study was conducted to identify a method to isolate bovine sweat glands and culture apocrine bovine sweat gland epithelial cells in vitro. Mechanical shearing, collagenase digestion, centrifugation, and neutral red staining were used to identify and isolate the apocrine glands from skin. Bovine sweat glands in situ and after isolation comprised 2 major cell types consisting of a single layer of cuboidal epithelial cells resting on a layer of myoepithelial cells. In situ, the glands were embedded in a collagen matrix primarily comprising fibroblasts, and some of these cells were also present in the isolated material. The isolated material was transferred to complete medium (keratinocyte serum-free medium, bovine pituitary extract, and human recombinant epidermal growth factor + 2.5% fetal bovine serum) in a T 25 flask (Falcon, Franklin Lakes, NJ) with media film and then incubated at 37°C for 24 h. After sweat glands adhered to the bottom of the flask, an additional 2 mL of complete medium was added and the medium was changed every 3 d. Isolated apocrine sweat glands and bovine sweat gland epithelial cells were immunostained for cytokeratin and fibroblast specific protein, indicating fibroblast-free cultures.