Cell surface topography and ultrastructural characteristics of human prostatic cancer cell line DU 145

In spite of continuous efforts by numerous investigators, no ideal animal or in vitro cell model has so far been established for the human prostatic cancer cells. A human prostatic cancer cell line, DU 145, established by Stone et al. (1), provides a useful model for the basic understanding of malignant growth of this cell type. DU 145 has been characterized as an epithelial cell line, which retains most of its original growth characteristics (1,2). We are using this cell line as in vitro model system for biochemical, immunological and morphometric analyses, to understand the subcellular and molecular changes in these cells leading to their malignant transformation. The present paper is our first report describing a detailed characterization of DU 145 cell line.