Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bissell, Mina J.

Titel

The Differentiated State of Normal and Malignant Cells or How to Define a “Normal” Cell in Culture

Ist Teil von

• International Review of Cytology, 1981, Vol.70, p.27-100

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Science & Technology

Erscheinungsjahr

1981

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This chapter discusses the differentiated state of normal and malignant cells. The first step of cell separation (trypsinization and collagenase treatment), by removing membranous receptors and matrix elements and structures, produces a discontinuity between the cell and its environment. Thus, if the outside directs what (and how much) the cell should or should not produce, the flow of information may never be exactly the same. There are two exceptions to this. The extent and the composition of the extracellular matrix is an important differentiated trait of tendon cells. The tendon in vivo produces an extensive and organized matrix consisting primarily of collagen bundles. In the presence of ascorbic acid, these cells produce an extensive matrix also in culture. The organization of the matrix, however, is not analogous to the tendon in vivo. Both in scanning and transmission electron micrographs, the matrix appears as a mesh-like network where collagen bundles have a smaller diameter than the bundles observed in intact tendon. This may be because tendon cells in vivo are lined up in orderly arrays, while in culture they have little or no orientation especially at subconfluent stages. If cells in culture are made to line up by providing them with a preformed collagenous matrix, it may be possible to achieve an organized deposition of a de novo synthesized matrix.