Low-Resistance Junctions in Epithelial Outgrowths From Normal and Cancerous Epidermis in Vitro

Flaxman, B. Allen; Cavoto, Francis V.

doi:10.1083/jcb.58.1.219

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Our evidence does not suggest that junctional belts are interrupted in nondome areas; thus it seems unlikely that dome sites are determined solely by the local absence of such discontinuities, although more subtle modulations in junction leakiness could play a role. We consider it more probable that transport and permeability are relatively constant and that domes form where FIGURE 16 Section of an occluding junction in an 8-day tumor cell culture fixed in aldehyde with tannic acid. Points of fusion of the outer leaflets of the junctional membranes are indicated by arrows.…”

Section: Domesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It appears now that, whereas some neoplastic or transformed cells fail to exhibit ionic coupling or detectable gap junctions, one or both of these properties have been demonstrated in others (e.g. 3,6,16,26,27,37,38,46). Search for tight junctions in neoplastic or transformed cells of epithelial origin has been minimal, has not utilized freeze-fracture methods, and usually has not yielded enough information to permit distinction of focal tight from gap or other close junctions.…”

Section: Membrane Junctions In Neoplastic Cells In Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Occluding junctions and cell behavior in primary cultures of normal and neoplastic mammary gland cells.

Pickett¹,

Pitelka²,

Hamamoto³

et al. 1975

The Journal of Cell Biology

107

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Cells dissociated from normal prelactating mouse mammary glands or from spontaneous mammary adenocarcinomas, when grown at high density on an impermeable substrate, form nonproliferating, confluent, epithelial pavements in which turgid, blister-like domes appear as a result of fluid accumulation beneath the cell layer. To compare the structure of the fluid-segregating cell associations in normal and tumor cell cultures with that of lactating gland in vivo, we have examined such cultures alive and in thick and thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas. Pavement cells in all cases are polarized toward the bulk medium as a lumen equivalent, with microvilli and continuous, well-developed occluding junctions at this surface. Between the pavement and the substrate are other cells, of parenchymal or stromal origin, scattered or in loose piles; these sequestered cells are relatively unpolarized and never possess occluding junctions. Small gap junctions have been found in the pavement layer, and desmosomes may link epithelial ceils in any location. Under the culture conditions used, development of the epithelial secretory apparatus is not demonstrable; normal and neoplastic cells do not differ consistently in any property examined. A dome's roof is merely a raised part of the epithelial pavement and does not differ from the latter in either cell or junction structure. We suggest that dome formation demonstrates the persistence of some transport functions and of the capacity to form effective occluding junctions. These basic epithelial properties can survive both neoplastic transformation and transition to culture.In confluent, high-density cell culture, normal or neoplastic epithelial cells from several mammalian sources spontaneously form multicellular, blisterlike, hollow domes (2, 9, 14, 19, 24, 32, 39, 40, 48 50, 58). Leighton et al. (32,33) recorded by time-lapse photography of MDCK (canine kidney cell line) cultures the growth, rupture, and collapse of domes, "like gently boiling oatmeal." McGrath et al. (39,41), using primary cultures of mouse mammary tumor cells, found that replication and release of mammary tumor virus (MTV) were highest under conditions that also promoted dome formation and that these conditions included, besides high cell density, insulin and hydrocortisone in the medium. The authors suggested for both the kidney and mammary cells that fluid pressure in the dome cavity was maintained by active secretion, presumably related to the process 316

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Section: Domesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Membrane Junctions In Neoplastic Cells In Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Occluding junctions and cell behavior in primary cultures of normal and neoplastic mammary gland cells.

Pickett¹,

Pitelka²,

Hamamoto³

et al. 1975

The Journal of Cell Biology

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A widely discussed possibility is the exchange of signals regulating the coordination or integration of populations of cells [11,19,35], as in the growth and function of normal tissues. On the assumption that some abnormal forms of growth may reflect a failure of such exchange [20], a number of studies have compared electrical or morphological coupling in tumors or transformed cell~ in culture and in their nearest available normal counterparts; retention of coupling has been reported in some cases [4,10,34,36], its loss or reduction in others [1,2,13,14,17,24,21]. Most of these studies have used transplanted tumor lines or established cell lines, in which cases the modification of junctional competence with time is a possibility, or human surgical specimens, for which the selection of normal control samples may pose problems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrophysiological study of coupling between cultured cells of the mouse mammary gland in five distinct physiological states

1976

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Electrical coupling has been observed between cultured cells of the mouse mammary gland in five distinct physiological or pathological states. We have employed young primary cultures of cells dissociated from the following tissues: normal glands from young virgin or midpregnant females, hyperplastic alveolar nodules (believed to be precancerous) transplanted in gland-free mammary fat pads, and spontaneous mammary adenocarcinomas and their pulmonary metastases. All successfully impaled pairs of cells (a total of 97 pairs) were found to be ionically coupled. Furthermore, in normal and tumor cell cultures, electrical coupling was observed between dome-dome and dome-nondome cell pairs. This study correlates with electronmicroscopic studies of fresh normal, hyperplastic, and tumor samples, which show the presence of gap junctions in all three.

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Influence of topical and systemic retinoids on basal cell carcinoma cell membranes

Elias¹,

Grayson²,

Gross³

et al. 1981

Cancer

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Although much recent work suggests that retinoids can prevent the development of epithelial cancers, their mechanism of action remains unknown. Since malignancy has been associated with alterations in gap junctions, desmosomes, microfilaments, and hemidesmosomes, the authors examined freeze-fracture replicas and thin sections of cell membranes of: (1) 11 basal cell cancers (BCC) treated twice daily for two weeks with topical 1.0% retinoid acid (RA); (2) 21 BCC treated for 2 to 17 weeks with oral 13-cis retinoic acid (CRA) (1.0-8.0 mg/kg/day); and (3) 17 BCC prior to retinoid treatment and/or after applications of vehicle alone. Both thin sections and replicas were examined and photographed in a single-blind fashion, and the density and size distribution of gap junctions and desmosomes were computed planimetrically. Topical RA treatment induced a two-fold increase in gap junction density (P less than 0.025) over controls. In contrast, RA produced a concurrent = 35% decrease in desmosome density. Systemic CRA did not significantly alter either gap junction or desmosome density or size. Finally, neither RA nor CRA treatment appeared to influence hemidesmosome or microfilament populations. Structural changes in both treatment groups did not correlate with either tumor regression or inflammation. Topical and systemic retinoids may exert their antineoplastic activity by different cellular mechanisms.

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Low-Resistance Junctions in Epithelial Outgrowths From Normal and Cancerous Epidermis in Vitro

Cited by 16 publications

References 15 publications

Occluding junctions and cell behavior in primary cultures of normal and neoplastic mammary gland cells.

Occluding junctions and cell behavior in primary cultures of normal and neoplastic mammary gland cells.

Electrophysiological study of coupling between cultured cells of the mouse mammary gland in five distinct physiological states

Influence of topical and systemic retinoids on basal cell carcinoma cell membranes

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