12-O-tetradedecanoylphorbol-13-acetate stimulation of DNA synthesis in cultured preneoplastic familial polyposis colonic epithelial cells but not in normal colonic epithelial cells

The authors have developed a method for the routine primary culture of human colonic epithelial cells. Cultured cells exhibited characteristic epithelial structures, including a brush border and junctional complexes. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at 10 ng/ml enhanced DNA synthesis an average of 8-fold when assayed by labeling index in colonic epithelial cells from five of six familial polyposis patients. No such stimulation by TPA was seen in cells from 13 high-risk patients without familial polyposis or in cells from five low-risk subjects. The results imply that familial polyposis epithelial cells are precursors of tubular adenoma cells, and their transition to the more advanced preneoplastic cells of this benign tumor is influenced by endogeneous tumor promoters.