Human Endometrial Cells in Primary Tissue Culture: Estrogen Interactions and Modulation of Cell Proliferation*

Abstract

Human endometrium, obtained from premenopausal women after hysterectomy, was dissociated into cells and placed in culture in order to examine estrogen responsiveness in a model in vitro system. Experiments which utilized cell proliferation as an index of responsiveness spanned at least 7 days and were performed in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% steroid-depleted serum from castrate-adrenalectomized calves. The addition of 2 × 1(10−7 M 17β-estradiol (E2) or diethylstilbestrol (DES) resulted in a 2- to 5-fold optimal acceleration in the rate of proliferation, with stimulation first being detected at 2-4 days. Ten-fold higher or lower concentrations of E2 or DES resulted in little stimulation, and high (2 × 10−5 M) concentrations of either estrogen stopped cell proliferation. The addition of E2 or DES (2 × 10−8−2 × 10−6 M) to cultures of a putative nontarget cell line (Detroit- 98) derived from human sternum failed to elicit any increase in the rate of proliferation, although high E2...