Behaviour of normal and neoplastic rat cells on grooved substrates

The distribution and shape of rat cells cultivated on plastic surfaces containing cylindrical areas of various radii and grooves of various depths were studied. Normal embryo cells and two lines of neoplastic cells (LW13K2 and RsK4) were used. The nuclear shape, orientation of the nuclei and migration of cells from the bottom of the grooves were assessed by quantitative methods. All characteristics of the behaviour of both neoplastic cell lines on the grooved substrates were found to be different from those of normal cells: a) the nuclei of neoplastic cells, in contrast to those of the normal ones, did not undergo additional elongation on the cylindrical areas of the substrate; b) the orientation of neoplastic cells with regard to the axis of the cylindrical substrate was decreased or absent; c) the migration of neoplastic cells from certain types of the grooves was decreased. It is suggested that the different reaction to the geometry of the substrate may be a characteristic feature of transformed cells. Possible mechanisms of these alterations are discussed.