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Routine culturing of normal, dysplastic and malignant human mammary epithelial cells from small tissue samples

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Summary

We compared the growth and morphology of normal, dysplastic and malignant human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) in medium containing 5% human serum, a serum-free medium (32) and serum-free medium with a low Ca++ concentration. Tissues were dissociated and epithelial organoids or single cells were seeded onto collagen-coated dishes. The cells grew in serum-containing medium, but growth of fibroblasts was also stimulated. The serum-free medium consistently selected for and stimulated the growth of epithelial cells. There was little advantage in reducing the Ca++ concentration to further increase cell yield. This serum-free primary culture system allows us to routinely prouce sufficient numbers of HMEC from small tissue samples for molecular biological investigations. Furthermore, the maintenance of cells in a defined medium can provide a system for evaluating the direct effects of factors on gene expression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, University of British Columbia, 2177 Wesbrook Mall, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Joanne T. Emerman & Darcy A. Wilkinson

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  1. Joanne T. Emerman
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  2. Darcy A. Wilkinson
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This work was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute of Canada and funds contributed by Mr. B. T. Wharton in memory of his wife, Nadia.

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Emerman, J.T., Wilkinson, D.A. Routine culturing of normal, dysplastic and malignant human mammary epithelial cells from small tissue samples. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 26, 1186–1194 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02623697

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