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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Using Mouse Mammary Tumor Cells to Teach Core Biology Concepts: A Simple Lab Module
Published on: June 18, 2015
Vitamin B6 suppresses growth of the feline mammary tumor cell line FRM
Dai Shimada1, Ayumi Fukuda, Hiroaki Kanouchi
1Department of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
Abstract:
Growth of FRM cells was inhibited by the addition of pyridoxine in a dose-dependent manner. Use of 5 mM pyridoxine caused an almost complete arrest of cell growth. Pyridoxal was as effective as pyridoxine, but pyridoxamine showed weak inhibitory action. Electron-microscopic examination of control cells revealed large nuclei and cellular membranes with villi, but, in pyridoxine-treated cells, condensed or degraded nuclei were observed. Many vacuoles and cholesterol crystals were widely distributed inside the cellular membrane of pyridoxine-treated cells. One of the vacuoles was identified as a lipid droplet. The DNA ladder was observed in the pyridoxine-treated cells. It is suggested that pyridoxine treatment of FRM cells causes cytolysis of cells by apoptosis.

