Research on the phenomenon of obligate embryonic diapause in mustelids has been limited by largely unsuccessful attempts to maintain such embryos in culture. Immortalized Mink Endometrial Epithelial Cells (GMme1) were generated by stable transfection of endometrial cells isolated from mink uterine tissue with SV40 large T antigen. These cells maintain an epithelial morphology after numerous passages in culture, stain strongly for cytokeratin and, most intriguingly, enhance embryonic survival when employed in coculture. GMme1 therefore represents an important step towards establishing an
in vitro model approximating the
in vivo environment of the mink uterus.
Immortalization Method: Immortalized with a plasmid vector containing the SV40 large T antigen.
BioSafety Level: II
Organism: Mink
Species: Mink
Source Organs: Uterus
Organ Type: Uterus
Growth Properties: Adherent
Morphology: Epithelial
Markers: Cytokeratin expression, neomycin resistance (100mg/ml)
Propagation: The base medium for this cell line is Prigrow III Medium available at
abm, Cat. No. TM003. To make the complete growth medium, add the following components to the base medium: F-10 (Gibco, 11550043) to a final concentration of 50%, Nu-Serum to a final concentration of 5%, estradiol 17β (Sigma) to a final concentration of 100 nM, insulin (Sigma) to a final concentration of 10 mg/ml, Penicillin/Streptomycin Solution (G255) to a final concentration of 0.2% and Amphotericin B (Fungizone) (
G274) to a final concentration of 0.5 µg/ml. Change media every 2-3 days.Carbon dioxide (CO
2): 5%, Temperature: +37.0°C.
Quality Control: 1) Immunocytochemistry
Shipping Condition: Dry Ice
Storage Condition: liquid nitrogen or -180°C
Reference: Moreau, G. M., Arslan, A., Douglas, D. A., Song, J., Smith, L. C., & Murphy, B. D. (1995). Development of immortalized endometrial epithelial and stromal cell lines from the mink (mustela vison) uterus and their effects on the survival
in vitro of mink blastocysts in obligate diapause. Biology of Reproduction, 53(3), 511-518. doi:10.1095/biolreprod53.3.511