Properties of prostatic cultures transformed by SV40

SV-40-transformed hamster prostatic tissue has been previously evaluated as a model for human prostatic carcinoma. Because the original cell line was lost, Syrian golden hamster prostatic tissue has been established in explant culture and infected with a 10-6-cell tissue culture infectious dose (50 percent effective) of SV40. After in vitro transformation, the cells were produced in quantity and 60 times 10-6 cells were injected into adult male Syrian golden hamsters 24 hours after 400 rads of whole-body radiation. After 60-90 days, a small palpable tumor developed. These tumors could be serially transplanted in adult male animals without immunosuppression. The tumor cells were established in tissue culture and the cells were returned to adult animals without immunosuppression where they rapidly produced fast-growing tumors. The solid tumors were composed of sheets of pleomorphic polygonal cells with large nuclei and many nucleoli; they resembled undifferentiated human prostatic carcinoma. In vitro, the cultures contained small, rapidly growing cells with a population doubling time of about 1.3 days. The cells carried the SV 40-specific antigen. The modal chromosome number was 66-68 with a distribution of 47-120. Cells exposed to 2-bromo-5'-deoxyuridine in culture did not release particles with RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity. Endocrine sensitivity in vivo and in vitro is undertermined to date.