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hTERT-Immortalized Prostate Epithelial and Stromal-Derived Cells: an Authentic In vitro Model for Differentiation and Carcinogenesis

¹ Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel; ² Department of Urology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria; ³ Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale/Universite Louis Pasteur, Illkirch, France; and ⁴ Department of Urology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Requests for reprints: Varda Rotter, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O. Box 26, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Phone: 972-8-934-4501; Fax: 972-8-946-5265; E-mail: varda.rotter{at}weizmann.ac.il.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in men, and there is no available cure for patients with advanced disease. In vitro model systems are urgently required to permit the study of human prostate cell differentiation and malignant transformation. Unfortunately, human prostate cells are particularly difficult to convert into continuously growing cultures. We report here the successful immortalization without viral oncogenes of prostate epithelial cells and, for the first time, prostate stromal cells. These cells exhibit a significant pattern of authentic prostate-specific features. In particular, the epithelial cell culture is able to differentiate into glandular buds that closely resemble the structures formed by primary prostate epithelial cells. The stromal cells have typical characteristics of prostate smooth muscle cells. These immortalized cultures may serve as a unique experimental platform to permit several research directions, including the study of cell-cell interactions in an authentic prostate microenvironment, prostate cell differentiation, and most significantly, the complex multistep process leading to prostate cell transformation. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(7): 3531-40)

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