Serum-free Culture of Oviductal and Utrine Epithlial Cells in Mammals

The mammalian reproductive tract and its secretions provide an optimal environment that facilitates fertilization,implantation and early embryonic development.Oviductal tissue and uterine endometrium are very sensitive to ovarian steroid hormones in vivo,and this sensitivity is shown protein synthesis by oviductal and uterine tissues in vitro.Although estrogen has been shown to stimulate in vivo the proliferation of oviductal and uterine epithelial cells,the stimulation observed in vitro is not clear and depends on experimental conditions.Recently,much knowledge has been accumrated on serum-free culture of epithelial cells.As serum contains various hormones and factors etc.,deletion of serum from a culture medium porvides many advantages,including prevention of overgrowth in fibroblastic cells and more straightforward interpretation of experimental results.In the present review,we discuss methods for oviductal and uterine epithelial cell isolation,compositions of serum-free media including basal media and supplements,primary cultures of mammalian oviductal and uterine epithelial cells in a serum-free medium,and some effects of estrogen and porgeterone on protein synthesis and proliferation of the culturing cells.A serum-free culture system for mammalian oviductual and uterine epithelial cells provides a good in vitro model for investigating the hormonal control of the epithelial cells.