Abstract
Summary
Using dissociated Rathke's pouch epithelial cells from 11- to 13-day-old fetal rats as starting material, we have successfully established 11 NRR (normal rat Rathke) cell lines. It was necessary to supplement the growth medium with a rat fetal brain extract in order to induce cell growth and differentiation. These NRR cell lines produced no detectable anterior pituitary hormones unless adult rat median eminence (MEE) extract was added to the culture medium. Following the addition of MEE to the culture medium the NRR cell lines continued to produce from one to six anterior pituitary hormones. The NRR cell lines all show a normal diploid karyotype and have exhibited good growth characteristics through 18 cell passages. From one of the NRR cell lines (NRR-5) 65 clones of normal diploid anterior pituitary cells have been established. Fifty-six of these clones have been examined for hormone production, and each clone examined has been shown to produce one, two, or three hormones.
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