Behavior and Characterization of Prostatic Stem Cells
Abstract
The aim of this proposal is to identify prostate stem cells using a novel in vivo transplant approach and basal and luminal cell lines that we have established in culture. We also plan to transform the basal and luminal cell lines and study their behavior in vitro and in vivo to determine if transformed basal cells can give rise to luminal tumors in vivo as most prostatic tumors have a luminal phenotype. We have successfully tagged our basal and luminal cell lines with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and have established a novel in vivo intraprostatic transplant model using these tagged cell lines. We show that both basal and luminal cell lines incorporate into normal prostatic epithelium and that GFP-expressing basal cells give rise to GFP-expressing luminal cells in mouse prostatic ducts. These results show that both basal and luminal epithelial cells can home and engraft in specific niches when inoculated intraprostatically and that both cell types are capable of self-renewal indicating that they have stem cell features. They also show that basal cells can differentiate into luminal cells when inoculated intraprostatically. The identification of prostatic stem cells and their features is highly relevant as they are the targets of transformation resulting in prostatic carcinogenesis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA404742
Entities
People
- E. L. Wilson
- Sarah Salm
Organizations
- New York University