Investigations on Somatotropin Production of Human Anterior Pituitary Cells in Tissue Culture

Abstract

In vitro cell lines freshly isolated from human anterior pituitary glands showed fibroblastic growth. Some cells did retain eosinophilic and basophilic characteristics. No human growth hormone was detected within the cells by use of fluorescein labelled antibody specific for human growth hormone. Also, no growth hormone was present in the supernatant medium. These findings suggest that human pituitary cells grown in tissue culture do not retain their functional properties for growth hormone production under the described culture conditions.