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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Live Cell Imaging to Assess the Dynamics of Metaphase Timing and Cell Fate Following Mitotic Spindle Perturbations
Published on: September 20, 2019
Numerical and structural centrosome aberrations are an early and stable event in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence of
Gian Kayser1, Ulrike Gerlach, Axel Walch
1Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Freiburg, Germany.
Aims:
Numerical and structural centrosome changes have been described for and linked with genetic instability in solid tumors. Here, we specifically address centrosome aberrations in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence of colorectal cancer by detailed evaluation of gamma-tubulin staining patterns.
Methods:
Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens (normal colonic epithelium n=21; low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia n=27, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia n=16 and invasive adenocarcinomas n=33) were stained by an anti-gamma-tubulin antibody using standard immunofluorescence. Three-dimensional image stacks of the stainings were recorded (Zeiss LSM510 confocal microscope), followed by numerical and structural data analysis (DIAS software package) and statistical evaluation (NCSS-software).
Results:
The mean centrosome signal per cell differed significantly (P<0.0001) between normal colonic epithelium (0.8775) and each low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (1.787), high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (2.259) and invasive carcinomas (2.267). Similarly, both the centrosomes' structural entropy (SE) and minimal spanning tree (MST) differed significantly (P<0.001) between normal (SE=3.956, MST=38.78) and each low- (SE=6.39, MST=26) and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (SE=5.75, MST=26.97) and invasive carcinoma (SE=6.86, MST=28.08).
Conclusion:
Numerical and structural centrosome dysregulation is seen as early as in low-grade dysplastic lesions of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence of colorectal carcinomas and may, as such, play an initial role in the carcinogenic process.
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