Abstract
Rodent models and immortalized or genetically modified cell lines are frequently used—but have limited utility—for studying human prostate development and maturation. Using rodent mesenchyme to establish reciprocal mesenchymal-epithelial cell interactions with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), we generated human prostate tissue expressing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) within 8–12 weeks. This human prostate model shows species-conserved signalling mechanisms that could extend to integumental, gastrointestinal and genital tissues.
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Acknowledgements
We thank S. Hayward for insightful discussions, and M. Richards and H. Wang for skilled technical assistance. This project was funded by the US Army Department of Defence, Prostate Cancer Research Program (PC020733) to G.P.R. and Perpetual Trustee Company Limited.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Fig. 1
Glandular regression of prostate tissues derived from SVM + hESC following androgen withdrawal by castration. (PDF 170 kb)
Supplementary Table 1
The proportion of glandular tissue expressing PSA in tissue recombinants following 8-12 weeks growth in vivo. (PDF 87 kb)
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Taylor, R., Cowin, P., Cunha, G. et al. Formation of human prostate tissue from embryonic stem cells. Nat Methods 3, 179–181 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth855
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth855
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