In vitro propagation of seminal vesicle epithelial cells.

The unique anatomic features of the guinea pig seminal vesicle allow establishment of nearly pure cultures of epithelial cells in vitro. Primary monolayer cultures can be maintained for up to 5 weeks and suspension cultures for 5 to 7 days. The rapidly proliferating cells in monolayer culture do not seem to be markedly sensitive to the presence of androgens or estrogens in the medium. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy indicates that the proliferating cells are epithelial in nature and are quite different from control seminal vesicle fibroblast cultures; transmission electron microscopy shows that these cells are markedly dedifferentiated vis-à-vis the native tissue in vivo. This is the first report of the successful cultivation of seminal vesicle epithelial cells in vitro.