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Characterization of rat liver cells transformed in culture bydl-ethionine

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Summary

A rat liver-derived epithelial cell line transformed withdl-ethionine and the corresponding control cell line were characterized according to morphological and cytochemical criteria to establish their origin from liver epithelium and to identify cellular changes due to transformation bydl-ethionine. The presence of intermediate junctions confirms the epithelial nature; glycogen accumulation and glucose-6-phosphatase activity confirm the hepatic origin of the cells. Persistent alterations resulting from ethionine transformation were variations in cell shape and size, focal multilayered growth, an increase in the nucleolar: nuclear ratio, and a reduction in the number of cells displaying a primary cilium. Hyperplasia of the inner nuclear membrane, elongation and branching of mitochondria, and a reduction in the length and frequency of cell junctions were also characteristic of the transformed cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ultrastructural Studies Section, Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, 21701, Frederick, Maryland

    Ursula I. Heine & Eliana F. Munoz

  2. Nutrition and Metabolism Section, Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, 21701, Frederick, Maryland

    Mary J. Wilson

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  1. Ursula I. Heine
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  2. Mary J. Wilson
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  3. Eliana F. Munoz
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Heine, U.I., Wilson, M.J. & Munoz, E.F. Characterization of rat liver cells transformed in culture bydl-ethionine. In Vitro 20, 291–301 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02618591

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02618591

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