USE OF A ROCK INHIBITOR TO SUSTAIN PRIMARY HUMAN KERATINOCYTES IN A PROLIFERATIVE STATE

摘要

Disclosed herein is the finding that treatment with a ROCK inhibitor increases proliferation and induces immortalization of primary keratinocytes. Accordingly, provided is a method of immortalizing primary keratinocytes by exposure to a ROCK inhibitor. Also provided are immortalized primary keratinocytes produced by the described method, as well as organotypic tissue equivalents and cell cultures comprising the immortalized primary keratinocytes. Furthermore, ROCK inhibitor-treated cells show a greatly increased ability to support viral DNA replication of both “low risk” and “high risk” HPV genomes, indicating that ROCK inhibitors will be useful for studying the life cycles of a wide range of HPVs.