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Department of Cancer Endocrinology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 4E6 Canada

Research investigating the molecular events underlying progression of prostate cancer to androgen independence has been impeded by the lack of an appropriate in vivo model that yields "pure" populations of prostate cancer cells that are not contaminated with host cells. Here we characterize a new in vivo model that uses hollow fibers and allows for the retrieval of uncontaminated prostate cancer cells during various stages of endocrine progression to androgen independence in male immunocompromised mice. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) gene expression, proliferation of cells, and histology were examined in these mice before and after castration. LNCaP cells seeded at a density of 1 x 10⁷ cells/ml, or a total of approximately 4.8 x 10⁶ cells/animal, provided measurable serum PSA levels that increased in intact (noncastrated) animals, decreased by 80% to a nadir after castration, and subsequently increased by 4 weeks after castration, indicating progression to androgen independence. In vivo proliferation of LNCaP cells inside the fibers continued in the presence of androgens and continued to increase, albeit at a slower rate, in the castrated animals. Histology of cells cultivated in hollow fibers demonstrated that initially the cells grew along the wall of the fiber and tended to stack up, forming layers and scaffold structures resembling a solid tumor. Fibers removed from castrated animals with elevated levels of serum PSA contained spheroids of cells that had detached from the fiber wall. The development of the LNCaP hollow fiber model described here provides a reproducible means of obtaining "pure" populations of LNCaP cells during different stages of progression to androgen independence for molecular analysis requiring RNA and protein extracts free of host cell contamination.

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