DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONDITIONALLY IMMORTALIZED TESTICULAR SERTOLI CELL LINE TTE3 EXPRESSING SERTOLI CELL SPECIFIC GENES FROM MICE TRANSGENIC FOR TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE SIMIAN VIRUS 40 LARGE T ANTIGEN GENE

Purpose: We developed and characterized a conditionally immortalized testicular Sertoli cell line from transgenic mice bearing the temperature sensitive simian virus 40 large T antigen gene pSVtsA58.Materials and Methods: Established cells from 8-week-old male transgenic mice were cultured at a permissive (33C) or nonpermissive (39C) temperature on a collagen type I pre-coated culture vessel. The expression of Sertoli cell specific proteins was analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, immunocytochemical testing and Western blot analysis.Results: The Sertoli cell line TTE3 grew at 33C but not at 39C. Large T antigen was expressed only in the nuclei at 33C, indicating that the temperature sensitive growth phenotype of the cells arose as a result of the function of temperature sensitive simian virus 40 large T antigen. The cells did not show any colony forming activity in soft agar or form tumors in subcutaneous tissue in nude mice, showing that TTE3 cells were not transformed. The cells ...