Epithelial cells retain junctions during mitosis

It has long been known that cells show reduced cell-substratum adhesion during mitosis in tissue culture, but it is not generally known whether cell-cell adhesion is also reduced. Epithelial cells, both in culture and in tissues, are linked together by several different types of intercellular junctions. Are these junctions disassembled when epithelial cells divide? Cultured epithelial cells were fluorescently stained for desmosomes, tight junctions and zonulae adherentes, and large numbers of dividing cells examined by light microscopy. The results suggested that all three types of intercellular junctions were retained throughout cell division and no evidence for internalization of junctions was obtained. The persistence of intercellular junctions by cultured cells during division was confirmed by electron microscopy. In order to determine whether intercellular junctions were similarly retained by dividing cells in tissues, human colonic mucosal crypt cells and basal keratinocytes were studied by electron microscopy. Both cell types retained intercellular junctions during division. Dividing basal keratinocytes also possessed hemidesmosomal contact with the basement membrane. It is suggested that retention of cellular junctions during division is important for maintenance of tissue integrity and organization.