TY - JOUR
T1 - Contact mediated myogenesis and increased acetylcholinesterase activity in primary cultures of mouse teratocarcinoma cells
AU - Gearhart, J. D.
AU - Mintz, B.
PY - 1974
Y1 - 1974
N2 - Transplantable mouse teratomas contain multipotential teratocarcinoma stem cells analogous to early embryo cells and capable of giving rise to a wide variety of specialized cell types in vivo when they attach to a substratum; if they are grown instead in suspension in the body cavity, they form multicellular embryoid bodies which proliferate with little or no cell specialization. Thus changes initiated at the cell surface may play some role in promoting early cell differentiation. In order to establish an in vitro system for experimental investigation of this hypothesis, embryoid body cells were explanted under conditions of cell attachment versus suspension and maintained in primary culture. Because cell differentiation in previous reports was relatively limited in vitro, the 2 cellular populations were first compared for genesis of a quantifiable macromolecular phenotype, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, which characterizes several of the cell types most commonly formed in the attached tumors in vivo. The attached cells produced markedly increased levels of AChE activity within a few weeks, while cells in suspension retained basal levels. AChE was histochemically visualized and was found to occur chiefly in cells undergoing myogenesis, especially during myotube formation. Aberrant muscle fibers formed and became predominant in the cultures. When embryoid bodies were first fractionated by increasing size, which reflects their progressive differentiation, the smallest ones, with relatively more multipotential cells and no apparent muscle cells, also showed AChE increase in attached cultures. The results are consistent with the view that attachment of the cell surface to a substratum may play a critical role in initiating some cellular developmental commitments, as well as in sustaining differentiation of cells whose specialization has already been determined.
AB - Transplantable mouse teratomas contain multipotential teratocarcinoma stem cells analogous to early embryo cells and capable of giving rise to a wide variety of specialized cell types in vivo when they attach to a substratum; if they are grown instead in suspension in the body cavity, they form multicellular embryoid bodies which proliferate with little or no cell specialization. Thus changes initiated at the cell surface may play some role in promoting early cell differentiation. In order to establish an in vitro system for experimental investigation of this hypothesis, embryoid body cells were explanted under conditions of cell attachment versus suspension and maintained in primary culture. Because cell differentiation in previous reports was relatively limited in vitro, the 2 cellular populations were first compared for genesis of a quantifiable macromolecular phenotype, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, which characterizes several of the cell types most commonly formed in the attached tumors in vivo. The attached cells produced markedly increased levels of AChE activity within a few weeks, while cells in suspension retained basal levels. AChE was histochemically visualized and was found to occur chiefly in cells undergoing myogenesis, especially during myotube formation. Aberrant muscle fibers formed and became predominant in the cultures. When embryoid bodies were first fractionated by increasing size, which reflects their progressive differentiation, the smallest ones, with relatively more multipotential cells and no apparent muscle cells, also showed AChE increase in attached cultures. The results are consistent with the view that attachment of the cell surface to a substratum may play a critical role in initiating some cellular developmental commitments, as well as in sustaining differentiation of cells whose specialization has already been determined.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0016227722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0016227722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.71.5.1734
DO - 10.1073/pnas.71.5.1734
M3 - Article
C2 - 4525289
AN - SCOPUS:0016227722
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 71
SP - 1734
EP - 1738
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 5
ER -