A morphometric study on the nuclear matrix of tumor cells in vitro

Recently, we have demonstrated that two cervical carcinoma cell lines with different cell differentiation stages possessed different nuclear matrix stability. The nuclear matrix of poorly differentiated cells was more stable than that of the more differentiated one. In the present study, we further quantified the nuclear matrix density after treatment with different DNase I concentrations. Moreover, six more ovarian cell lines were also used to investigate the relationship between nuclear matrix stability and cell differentiation stages. Since the nuclear matrix is an important site for gene replication and transcription, the nuclear matrix stability can be used as an indicator to reflect these activities within the nucleus.