Established by immortalisation of normal adult prostatic epithelial cells by transfection with a plasmid containing SV40 genome with a defective replication origin. The primary culture was obtained from a prostate of a 33 year old male at post mortem. PNT2 cells contain the SV40 genome and express large T protein. They possess a well differentiated morphology with the expression of cytokeratin 8,18 and 19 with the latter being a feature of differentiated luminal cells of the glandular prostate. Cytokeratin 14, a marker of epithelial basal cells, is not expressed. The cells are non-tumourigenic in nude mice.

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