Effects of human prostatic mitogens on rat bone cells and fibroblasts.

We examined several characteristics of the mitogenic activity of extracts of human prostatic adenocarcinoma and human benign prostatic hyperplasia in fetal rat calvarial cells, cloned rat osteosarcoma cells and rat skin fibroblasts. Prostatic moieties produced maximal stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation at 24 h, were mitogenic in the absence or presence of various concentrations of serum, and were active in calvarial cells enriched with osteoblasts, skin fibroblasts and the cloned rat osteosarcoma cell line UMR 108. The known growth-promoting agents insulin, insulin-like growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, epidermal growth factor, interleukin-1 alpha and beta and transforming growth factor beta were also mitogenic in the indicator systems employed; however, maximally stimulating effects of these peptides in cells of the osteoblast phenotype were further enhanced with prostatic material. Prostatic activity was acid-stable and could be enriched with respect to osteoblast stimulation by hydrophobic and carboxymethyl ion-exchange chromatography. The results demonstrate the presence of potent mitogenic activity in hyperplastic and malignant prostatic tissue which appears to include unique osteoblast-stimulating activity.