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Morphological changes in frog pronephric cell surfaces after transformation by herpes virus
Journal of Cell Science
|November 1, 1976
Summary
Frog kidney cancer cells exhibit distinct surface changes compared to normal cells. Scanning electron microscopy revealed significant topographic alterations in tumor cell membranes, characterized by microridges and stubby microvilli.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Oncology
- Electron Microscopy
Background:
- Malignant transformation can alter cell surface morphology.
- Lucké Herpesvirus is known to induce tumors in frog kidneys.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the surface membrane topography of frog pronephric tumor cells.
- To compare the surface features of normal frog kidney cells with those of tumor cells.
Main Methods:
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed.
- Comparison of a normal embryonic pronephric cell line with three experimentally induced pronephric adenocarcinoma cell lines.
- Cells were cultured under identical conditions for morphological analysis.
Main Results:
- Normal frog embryonic kidney cells display long, fingerlike microvilli.
- Pronephric tumor cells exhibit significantly different surface structures, predominantly featuring multiple ruffled or straight microridges and short, stubby microvilli.
- These distinct surface changes were consistently observed across all three tumor cell lines.
Conclusions:
- Malignant transformation of frog pronephric kidney cells leads to major modifications in cell surface topography.
- The presence of microridges and stubby microvilli is a significant characteristic of these tumor cells.
- SEM is a valuable tool for identifying morphological differences between normal and cancerous cells.