Cytoplasmic fine network and mitochondria in normal and abnormal cultured keratinocytes: an electron microscopic...

The cytoplasmic fine structures of both normal human cultured keratinocytes (NHK) and squamous cell carcinoma cells (HSC) were examined by electron microscopy using the whole-cell preparation method and stereo-viewing techniques. The presence of cytoplasmic fine network (CFN) was confirmed in both NHK and HSC, but the structures of the two were found to be radically different. In particular, the mitochondria showed a number of distinct morphological differences. The introduction of cytochalasin B and colchicine into HSC partially destroyed the CFN, and, as a result, the morphology of the HSC mitochondria changed to become similar to those of NHK. It seems that the CFN may have an important role in determining the shape of the cell organelles, such as mitochondria, and that the shape of the mitochondria may perhaps be used as an indication of cell malignancy.