Normal human endometrial cells in culture: characterization and immortalization of epithelial and stromal cells by SV 40 large T antigen.

Thirty endometrial biopsies were cultured in order to separate stromal and epithelial cells. Using epidermal growth factor (EGF), cortisol, cholera toxin, insulin with 5% horse serum for epithelial cells or a medium with 20% fetal calf serum for stromal cells, we could specifically enrich endometrial culture in epithelial or stromal cells and culture them for 1 or 2 months. These cultures retained the phenotypic characteristics of epithelial (cytokeratins, mucin HMFG 1) and stromal (vimentin, smooth muscle actin, desmin) lineage by immunostaining analysis. Epithelial and stromal cultures from one individual were respectively immortalized by the SV 40 large T antigen. The immortalized cell lines kept the phenotype of the normal cells from which they derived.