A quantitative study of the interphasic nucleolar organizer regions in two human cervical carcinoma cell lines

We have studied the relationship between interphase nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) distribution and nucleolar size in cancer cells under prolonged culture. Six morphometric parameters (NUCLEAR SIZE, NOR NUMB, AREA SUM, MEAN AREA, SIZE RATIO and SIZE RATIO MEAN) of AgNORs in cancer cells were analyzed by an image analyzing system. The results show that the parameters NORN NUMB, AREA SUM and NUCLEAR SIZE demonstrate the most consistent changes in the two cervical carcinoma cell lines studied. These three parameters of AgNORs appear to be correlated with the degree of "dedifferentiation" that occurred in tumor cells under prolonged culture.