Enhanced growth medium and method for culturing human mammary epithelial cells
First Claim
1. A method for preparing samples of human mammary tissue to obtain a mass culture of mammary epithelial cells, said method comprising:
- digesting the tissue samples with an enzyme digestion mixture including at least one enzyme selected to break down the mammary tissue into clumps of epithelial cells substantially free from attached stromal cells;
separating the clumps of epithelial cells from the stromal cells and other cellular material; and
,culturing the clumps of epithelial cells in a medium including conditioned media obtained from cultures of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the mammary epithelial cells in the clumps proliferate.
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Abstract
Methods are disclosed for isolating and culturing human mammary epithelial cells of both normal and malignant origin. Tissue samples are digested with a mixture including the enzymes collagenase and hyaluronidase to produce clumps of cells substantially free from stroma and other undesired cellular material. Growing the clumps of cells in mass culture in an enriched medium containing particular growth factors allows for active cell proliferation and subculture. Clonal culture having plating efficiencies of up to 40% or greater may be obtained using individual cells derived from the mass culture by plating the cells on appropriate substrates in the enriched media. The clonal growth of cells so obtained is suitable for a quantitative assessment of the cytotoxicity of particular treatment. An exemplary assay for assessing the cytotoxicity of the drug adriamycin is presented.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for preparing samples of human mammary tissue to obtain a mass culture of mammary epithelial cells, said method comprising:
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digesting the tissue samples with an enzyme digestion mixture including at least one enzyme selected to break down the mammary tissue into clumps of epithelial cells substantially free from attached stromal cells; separating the clumps of epithelial cells from the stromal cells and other cellular material; and
,culturing the clumps of epithelial cells in a medium including conditioned media obtained from cultures of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the mammary epithelial cells in the clumps proliferate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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3. An assay for determining the toxicity of a particular agent to human mammary epithelial cells, wherein viable colonies of human mammary epithelial cells are prepared by:
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digesting samples of human mammary tissue with an enzyme digestion mixture including at least one enzyme selected to break down the mammary tissue into clumps of epithelial cells substantially free from attached stromal cells; separating the clumps of epithelial cells from the stromal cells and other cellular material; and
,culturing the clumps of epithelial cells in a medium including conditioned media obtained from cultures of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the cells in the clumps proliferate; separating individual cells from the clumps of epithelial cells; and plating a relatively small number of the individual cells onto a substrate in a medium including conditioned media from at least one media obtained from human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the cells proliferate in isolation from one another to form colonies; said assay comprising; exposing the viable colonies to the particular agent; and determining the survival rate of the colonies.
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8. An assay for determining the toxicity of a particular agent to human mammary epithelial cells, said assay employing a culture of human mammary epithelial cells prepared by:
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digesting samples of human mammary tissue with an enzyme digestion mixture including at least one enzyme selected to break down the mammary tissue into clumps of epithelial cells substantially free from attached stromal cells; separating the clumps of epithelial cells from the stromal cells and other cellular material; and culturing the clumps of epithelial cells in a medium including conditioned media obtained from cultures of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the cells in the clumps proliferate; separating individual cells from the clumps of epithelial cells; and plating individual cells onto a substrate in a medium including conditioned media from at least one of the media obtained from human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells so that the cells proliferate in isolation from one another to form colonies, wherein said substrate has been plated with feeder cells prior to culturing the epithelial cells; said assay comprising; exposing the plated cells to the agent; terminating the exposure of the colonies to the treatment; providing supplemental growth media further including feeder cells; allowing the colonies plated on the substrate to proliferate until it is possible to distinguish those colonies which continue to grow from those colonies which have ceased to grow prior to determining the survival rate; and determining the toxicity by comparing the number of viable colonies with the number of colonies which have ceased to grow.
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- 9. A growth medium, comprising insulin, cholera toxin and conditioned medium obtained from a culture of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal intestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells, said components being present in basal medium at concentrations effective to promote the growth of human mammary epithelial cells therein.
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14. A viable culture of human mammary epithetial cells in a basal medium comprising said cells, insulin, cholera toxin and conditioned medium obtained from a culture of cells selected from the group consisting of human fetal instestine epithelial cells and human bladder epithelial cells wherein said insulin, cholera toxin and conditioned medium are present in amounts sufficient to promote the growth of human mammary epithetial cells.
Specification