[Function of hormone-secreting cells cultured under continuous perfusion with nutrient medium]

The data are presented as to prolactin and ACTH secretion by rat adenohypophysis cells and insulin secretion by pancreatic beta-cells of the newborn rats during cell cultivation on flat synthetic membranes with pores differing in diameter under continuous medium perfusion. The cultured cells were discovered to be viable and to possess secretory activity. Secretion of prolactin and ACTH and that of insulin in the appropriate cultures increases in the course of long-term incubation under continuous medium perfusion. It is concluded that application of the porous membranes enables a selective study of the release of one or another hormone into the medium. It is believed that cultivation of hormone-secreting and hormone-susceptible cells under closed- and unclosed-type nutrient medium perfusion is fairly promising.