Growth control of prostatic carcinoma cells in serum-free media: interrelationship of hormone response, cell density, and nutrient media.

Two established prostatic carcinoma cell lines have been grown in long-term culture in a defined medium (PFMR-4) free of serum, hormones, or growth factors. Growth of both lines in serum-free medium was population dependent. This cell-density requirement could be replaced by mitomycin C-inactivated feeder cells, homologous conditioned medium, or fetal bovine serum, but not by hormones or growth factors. The cells responded to these factors only at high density. The nature of this hormonal response was dependent on the kind of basal nutrient medium used. Growth in PFMR-4 with added insulin was more rapid than that in DME/F12 medium with any combination of hormones or growth factors and was substantially greater than growth in DME/F12 medium with insulin alone. The results demonstrate that whereas these two prostatic carcinoma lines (PC-3 and DU 145) do not require hormones for survival or growth, they do respond to certain hormones under appropriate conditions. These conditions include both the type of basal nutrient medium used and the population density.