Differential epithelial cell-type specific CD expression provides a powerful means of identifying cell types related by lineage and, thus, of distinguishing progenitor cells from intermediate cells and terminally differentiated epithelial cells. We have identified a number of such CD markers that are specific for the parenchymal cells of the prostate, including the fibromuscular stromal cells and the basal and luminal epithelial cell types of the prostate. These markers greatly augment cytokeratins for use in cell-type analysis and increase our ability to identify a greater number of cell types as exemplified by the differentiation of luminal and cancer cells (both of which express luminal-type cytokeratins.) The overall goal of this project is to characterize and isolate epithelial stem cell populations from two urologic organs, the prostate and bladder.

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