Does the lack of regression‐associated mRNA expression render a rat ventral prostate epithelial cell line androgen independent?

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Abstract
A series of rapidly dividing epithelial (RDE) cell lines have been isolated from primary cultures of rat ventral prostate (RVP) epithelial cells. Unlike androgen‐dependent secretory epithelial cells, the RDE cells in culture do not express the androgen‐dependent secretory proteins, nor do they express the androgen‐repressed cell death sequences (TRPM‐2) found in the epithelial cells during prostatic regression. Screening of a cDNA clone library established from RDE cell mRNA has yielded a number of RDE cell‐specific sequences. One of these, RDE‐.25 is a 250‐base mRNA. The sequence of RDE‐.25 shows considerable homology with the rat growth hormone gene and two murine oncogene sequences. We believe that the absence of androgen‐repressed cell death sequence expression confers androgen independence for survival and growth, while the expression of RDE‐.25 may represent an autocrine growth stimulus which greatly increases the rate of cell division in these cells.