Characterization of KW smooth muscle-like human myometrial cells.

We characterized the human KW cell line to investigate whether it can serve as a model to study uterine muscle physiology in vitro. KW cells stained (a) positive for vimentin, smooth-muscle-specific alpha actin, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase-type PA (uPA), uPA receptor, PA inhibitor 1, latent transforming growth factor beta 1 (latent TGF-beta 1) and 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type I, and (b) negative for desmin, endoglin and cytokeratin 19. Insulin-like growth factor I, epidermal growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor stimulated the DNA synthesis in KW cells in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, KW cells express a phenotype compatible with human uterine muscle cells. Hence, they can serve as a model to study uterine muscle physiology in vitro.