Cocultivation of Clostridium oncolyticum with normal and tumour cell lines

During incubation of monolayer cell cultures with clostridia spores in the presence of 1.5 per cent of oxygen vegetative bacterial rods become visible and cell necrosis occurs preferentially in tumour cell lines. After such cocultivation tumour cells show a higher amount of clostridia not elutable by washing than finite cells. Electron microscopy of associated clostridia shows vegetative rods in contact to and inside of tumour cells.