Prostaglandin-H-synthase competent cells derived from ram seminal vesicles: a tool for studying cooxidation of xenobiotics.

Prostaglandin-H-synthase (PHS) peroxidase has been suggested to mediate drug metabolism particularly in extrahepatic tissues low in monooxygenase (MFO) activity. PHS can oxidize various xenobiotics in vitro; its contribution in vivo is still uncertain and is currently assessed by differences in the MFO- and PHS-catalyzed product/adduct formation of a few suitable substrates. Cells in culture that are PHS competent but MFO deficient can provide an additional approach for further investigating the role of PHS in the metabolic activation of foreign compounds. To this end, a cell line has been derived from ram seminal vesicles (SEMV), a tissue known as a good source of PHS but shown to be devoid of MFO activity. SEMV cells can be cultured in IBR or in RPMI medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, and have been subcultured until passage 30. The arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism in these cells has been characterized: besides incorporation in the lipid pool, AA was mainly metabolized to prostaglandin (PG) E2; minor products were PGF2 alpha and the lipoxygenase products 12- and 15-HETE. The PGE2 production (17 nmol/10(6) cells.24 h) of SEMV cells (passage 10) exceeded at least 10-fold that of other cells cultured under similar conditions. These data, indicative of high PHS activity, suggest that the cells can be a useful tool for future studies on the objectives outlined above.