On the flexibility of surface structures of tumor cells in vitro

When HeLa cells are detached from their support by trypsin, trypsin-EDTA, or by mechanical means large zeiotic blebs are formed. After reseeding the cells onto glass these blebs shrink. Those blebs near the support collapse completely to form lobes in the neighborhood of lobopodia. By scanning and transmission electron microscopy we could show the transformation of these zeiotic blebs into true lobopodia. This implies a repair of cell surface structures and components as well as of the subcortical cytoskeleton.