Immortalized Mink Endometrial Epithelial Cells (GMme1)

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 (immunocytochemistry) 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.