VCaP cells are a
cell line of human
prostate cancer commonly used in the field of
oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''à ...
. The tissue was harvested at autopsy from a metastatic lesion to a lumbar vertebrae of a 59 year old Caucasian male with hormone refractory prostate cancer in 1997, which was then xenografted into
SCID mice
The severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a severe immunodeficiency genetic disorder that is characterized by the complete inability of the adaptive immune system to mount, coordinate, and sustain an appropriate immune response, usually due t ...
and later harvested and plated on tissue culture dishes, where it can be propagated as an immortalized prostate cancer cell line.
Characteristics
VCaP are an adherent, epithelial cell line with high
Androgen receptor and
Prostate specific antigen
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), also known as gamma-seminoprotein or kallikrein-3 (KLK3), P-30 antigen, is a glycoprotein enzyme encoded in humans by the ''KLK3'' gene. PSA is a member of the kallikrein-related peptidase family and is secreted b ...
expression.
[ VCaP are the only prostate cancer cell model that express the Androgen receptor splice variant, AR-V7, and the ]TMPRSS2
Transmembrane protease, serine 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''TMPRSS2'' gene. It belongs to the TMPRSS family of proteins, whose members are transmembrane proteins which have a serine protease activity. The TMPRSS2 protein is f ...
-ERG
The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100 nJ). It originated in the Centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). It has the symbol ''erg''. The erg is not an SI unit. Its name is derived from (), a Greek word meaning 'work' o ...
gene fusion.
The cells have an approximate doubling time of 53 hours, and require more specific culture conditions than other prostate cancer cell lines.
References
External links
Cellosaurus entry for VCaP
Human cell lines
Prostate cancer
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