The isolation, enrichment, and comparative electron microscopic characterization of cellular components of the aged rat ventral prostate

Prostate cells were isolated from 3‐and 23‐month‐old Sprague‐Dawley rats. After sequential digestion with 0.1% collagenase at 370C, a mixed population of cells was obtained. The cells were layered on a five‐step discontinuous Percoll gradient (g/ml: 1.024, 1.043, 1.048, 1.060, 1.089), centrifuged at 3,000 rpm x 30 minutes, which produced six distinct cellular subpopulations and a fibromuscular stroma (FMS). Electron microscopic characterization of the 3‐and 23‐month‐old cellular subpopulations identified the following components, g/ml: debris and nonviable cells (1.020–1.025) nonsecretory epithelial cells (1.038–1.039), secretory epithelial cells (1.047–1.048), basal epithelial cells (1.057–1.059), differentiating epithelial cells (1.070–1.075), erythrocytes (1.085–1.089). This study demonstrates that one of the effects of age on the rat ventral prostate is an intracellular disorganization of isolated and enriched cellular components.