Summary
HeLa S3 suspension-culture cells were exposed to methylmercury(II) of sub-lethal ([CH3Hg(II)]< 3.2 μM) and lethal ([CH3Hg(II)]≧43.2 μM) concentrations for varied periods of time and their changes in volume monitored with the help of electric sensing zone instrumentation. The volume distribution of the cells was found to follow in almost all instances the logarithmic normal distribution. When deviations occurred, they were approximated as following a Gaussian distribution. Information on measures of central location such as median, mode, mean, and variance has been presented in tabulated form as a function of both organomercurial concentration in the growth medium and length of incubation. The cells were found to respond to increasing concentrations of methylmercury by at first enlarging their volume and then, particularly at high toxicant levels and after longer periods of incubation, by decreasing it. While the volume increase, reaching almost twice the volume of control cells, was generally accompanied by a spreading of the size distribution, indicating the presence of many differently-sized cells, the volume decrease led in all instances to a considerable narrowing of the distribution. The volume decreased by a factor of three-to-four below that of control cells. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of HeLa S3 cells at the toxicant levels listed above, but limited to a 12 h incubation period, supplemented the volume distribution measurements. As revealed by SEM, cells that are characterized by a wide size distribution possess a multitude of shapes and surface features while cells with narrow distributions are homogeneous in appearance. It was found that cell sizing, utilizing electric sensing zone instrumentation, represents a technique that is extremely sensitive to minor changes in cell volume and volume distribution and that it is thus uniquely suited to detect cellular injury at early stages of pathological conditions brought about by organic mercury compounds.
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Gruenwedel, D.W. Effect of methylmercury(II) on the size of HeLa S3 carcinoma cells. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 37, 153–166 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892564
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892564