Effect of Certain Growth Factors on Proliferation in Serum-Free Collagen Gel Culture of Vaginal Epithelial Cells from Prepuberal Mice Exposed Neonatally to Diethylstilbestrol

Abstract

Abstract.

Neonatal treatment with diethylstilbestrol (DES) induces ovary-independent vaginal epithelial changes in mice. The response of vaginal epithelial cells from intact prepuberal BALB/cCrgl mice treated neonatally with 2 μg of DES for 5 days to growth-stimulatory and -inhibitory factors was studied using a serum-free collagen gel culture system that sustains the growth of normal vaginal epithelial cells. Cells from control and DES-exposed mice at 21 days of age showed about a 5-fold increase in number during 10 days in a serum-free medium supplemented with transferrin, bovine serum albumin fraction V, insulin, and epidermal growth factor. Epidermal growth factor and insulin stimulated dose-related proliferation of vaginal epithelial cells from both control and DES-exposed mice; however, cells from DES-exposed mice showed a reduced growth response to epidermal growth factor and an increased growth response to insulin, compared with control cells. Insulin-like growth factor I (1–100 ng/ml) tested in the absence of insulin failed to stimulate cell growth. Transforming growth factor-β (0.05–5 ng/ml) consistently inhibited cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. [P.S.E.B.M. 1991, Vol 198]