Suspension cultures of adult rooster hepatocytes with a sustained vitellogenic response.

Primary suspension cultures of hepatocytes from adult roosters were prepared by collagenase perfusion. The cells remained viable for better than 12h as assessed by vital dye exclusion, electron microscopy and protein synthesis. In addition to the spectrum of proteins observed in control cultures, hepatocytes from animals pretreated with 17 beta-oestradiol synthesized vitellogenin, low density lipoprotein and several other unidentified peptides. Vg production, as determined by direct immunoprecipitation, was maintained at levels comparable to those observed in vivo with oestrogen treated roosters. Attempts to attain secondary induction of vitellogenesis in vitro, however, using cells from animals in which the primary response had subsided, were not successful. Nonetheless, the results show as a first step, that suspension cultures of liver cells from adult birds can be prepared which remain viable and morphologically differentiated for an extended period.