Establishment of prostatic cell line "Pro9ad" from a p53-deficient mouse

We demonstrated that p53-deficiency is sufficient for immortalization of fetal uterine cells. In the present study, we further extended our previous observations to prostate tissues from a young p53-deficient adult mouse.

Cell lines were established from the ventral prostate of a p53-deficient male mouse and maintained in medium containing 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum supplemented with insulin (10 microg/ml), transferrin (10 microg/ml), cholera toxin (10 ng/ml), and selenium (10(-8) M).

Pro9ad, one of the lines established, exhibits a typical epithelial morphology in culture. Despite the possession of androgen receptors, the growth of Pro9ad was not stimulated by 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) slightly stimulated proliferation, whereas fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), and platelet-derived growth factor AB (PDGF-AB) had no stimulating effect on growth. However, FGF-2, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) accelerated proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. EGF and IGF-1 additively stimulated growth.

These results suggest that Pro9ad shares characteristics in common with primary prostatic epithelial cells despite p53-deficiency, and that p53-deficiency alone allows establishment of clonal cell lines of the prostate epithelium. Furthermore, the prostates of p53-deficient mice are useful sources for obtaining cell lines.