Primary culture of canine prostate epithelial cells

Epithelial-cell enriched primary cultures were established from canine prostate by a collagenase digestion and selective attachment procedure. The epithelial cells in primary culture retained differentiated structure and function. The epithelial cells were attached to one another by tight junctions and desmosomes to form "lumenlike structures" that resemble the acini of the intact organ and appeared to contain typical protein synthetic organelles (1,2). The cultures contained significant levels of acid phosphatase and ornithine decarboxylase (2) and retained the ability to metabolize testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and other 5α-reduced metabolites (2-4).