Figure 1.

The morphology and characterization of immortalized bovine uterine endometrial epithelial cells (EECs). (A) Immortalized bovine uterine EECs were obtained by transfection of retroviral vectors, containing HPV-16 E6, E7 and hTERT genes to extend their life span. The representative photographs of EECs are shown (left: primary, right: immortalized). Bar = 200 μm. (B) The expression of HPV-16 E6, E7 and hTERT mRNAs in transfected EECs. Transcripts were examined by RT-PCR in primary and immortalized EECs. ACTB was used as an internal control. (C) The expression of steroid and interferon A (IFNA) receptor gene transcripts in primary and immortalized EECs. RNAs, extracted from primary or immortalized EECs at 60^th passage, were subjected to PCR analysis. ACTB was used as an internal control.