ESTABLISHMENT OF A 3-DIMENSIONAL HUMAN PROSTATE ORGANOID COCULTURE UNDER MICROGRAVITY-SIMULATED CONDITIONS - EVALUATION OF ANDROGEN-INDUCEDGROWTH AND PSA EXPRESSION

A novel in vitro human prostate cancer model was established by using a coculture technique in which isolated human prostate fibroblasts wer e observed to grow as a mixed culture with isolated human prostate can cer cells (LNCaP) on microcarrier beads under microgravity-simulated c onditions. This model appears to be promising: and deserves further ex ploration because: (a) cocultured human prostate fibroblasts and cance r epithelial cells appear to undergo patterns of histogenesis similar to those observed in human prostate tumors and (b) unlike the conventi onal cell culture on plastic dishes, cocultured human prostate fibrobl asts and LNCaP cells in microgravity-simulated conditions responded to the inductive signals of growth and differentiation from dihydrotesto sterone in a manner similar to that observed in the in vivo condition. These results offer an opportunity to examine molecular mechanisms of cellular signaling in response to androgen stimulation during normal and aberrant human prostate development. The microgravity-simulated th ree-dimensional prostate epithelial cell culture with prostate fibrobl asts car. be further explored as an ideal in vitro model for the study of normal and neoplastic prostate development. This model could also be adopted as a drug screening program for the discovery of novel ther apeutic agents in the treatment of human prostate cancer and benign hy perplastic growth.