Electrophoretic separation of kidney and pituitary cells on STS-8

Abstract

A Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) was used on Space Shuttle flight STS-8 to separate specific secretory cells from suspensions of cultured primary human embryonic kidney cells and rat pituitary cells. The objectives were to isolate the subfractions of kidney cells that produce the largest amounts of urokinase (plasminogen activator), and to isolate the subfractions of rat pituitary cells that secrete growth hormone, prolactin, and other hormones. Kidney cells were separated into more than 32 fractions in each of two electrophoretic runs. Electrophoretic mobility distributions in flight experiments were spread more than the ground controls. Multiple assay methods confirmed that all cultured kidney cell fractions produced some urokinase, and five to six fractions produced significantly more urokinase than the other fractions. Several fractions also produced tissue plasminogen activator. The pituitary cells were separated into 48 fractions in each of the two electrophoretic runs, and the amounts of growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) released into the medium for each cell fraction were determined. Cell fractions were grouped into eight mobility classes and immunocytochemically assayed for the presence of GH, PRL, ACTH, LH, TSH, and FSH. The patterns of hormone distribution indicate that the specialized cells producing GH and PRL are isolatable due to the differences in electrophoretic mobilities.