Morphological characterization of nitrosourea-induced glioma cell lines and clones (original) (raw)

Summary

A morphological characterization of cell lines and clones derived from nitrosourea-induced gliomas in CDF rats was performed and compared with normal rat glial cells. The glioma cell lines and clones proved to be morphologically stable. They retained individual characteristics and their state of differentiation despite repeated propagations in vitro. There are no indications suggesting that different cell types are transformed to a common phenotype. Different glioma cell lines maintain their individual morphological distinctiveness, however, normal glial cells give consistent morphological features and growth patterns irrespective of the variation of animal resource and passage level. The criss-cross or streaming cellular alignment and the multilayeredness make glioma cultures morphologically distinguishable from normal glial cultures which are characterized by monolayered epithelioid configuration. Furthermore, an elevated mitotic index and an increased nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio are observed consistently with glioma cells in culture, irrespective of the degree of anaplasia. Differentiated glioma cells preserve certain normal traits of glial components (i.e. morphological differentiation, cytoskeletal elaboration, etc.), yet express various neoplastic phenotypes (i.e., autonomous growth behaviors, tumorigenicity upon transplantation, etc.), though to a lesser extent than glioma cells of anaplastic variety. Despite the intimate interdigitations between apposed plasmalemmae of adjacent tumor cells, no recognizable intercellular junctional devices are present. The in vitro glioma cell system may serve as an excellent model for investigating the mechanisms for autonomous biological behavior and proliferation of neoplastic cells and for therapeutic screening.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Road, 43210, Columbus, OH, USA
   L. Ko & A. Koestner
2. Neuropathologisches Institut, Universität Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, D-4000, Düsseldorf 1, Germany
   W. Wechsler

Authors

1. L. Ko
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2. A. Koestner
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3. W. Wechsler
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Additional information

This investigation was supported in part by grants CA-11223 and CA-20348 from the National Cancer Institute and from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. L. K. is a recipient of the Government Scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Education, Rep. of China

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Ko, L., Koestner, A. & Wechsler, W. Morphological characterization of nitrosourea-induced glioma cell lines and clones.Acta Neuropathol 51, 23–31 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00688846

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• Received: 29 February 1980
• Accepted: 26 March 1980
• Issue Date: January 1980
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00688846

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