Ultrastructural characteristics of tumorigenic and nontumorigenic liver cell cultures, IAR series, based on scanning electron microscopy data
Gel'shteĭn, V.I.
Tsitologiia 23(5): 510-515
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-3771 PMID: 7256851 Document Number: 177000
A scanning electron microscope study of 3 long-term non-tumorigenic liver lines (IAR20, IAR2 and IAR6) and 7 tumorigenic lines (IAR 2-31, IAR 2-32 RT4, IAR 2-32 RT6, IAR 6-7, IAR 6-1, IAR 6-1RT7 and IAR 6-1RT7A) has been undertaken. Cells of nontumorigenic lines spread well over the substratum, their morphology being characteristic of epithelial cells. Single cells in sparse cultures displayed discoid non-polarized shapes, with a ring of lamellar cytoplasm on the periphery. In dense cultures, coherent sheets of cells are formed with firm intercellular contacts. The cells of tumorigenic lines had some morphological features differing by this from their parental cells. The minimal deviation was the reduction of the lamellar cytoplasm in single cells. Various degrees of deficiencies of the formation of coherent sheets in dense cultures were also characteristic of tumorigenic lines. The morphological changes accompanying the neoplastic progression of the IAR cells reflected the increasing deficiency of their ability to form the cell-to-cell and cell-to-substratum contacts.