Premium
Ultrastructure of human melanoma in cell culture: Electron microscopic studies
Author(s) -
Tshima S.,
Moore G. E.,
Sandberg A. A.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(196802)21:2<202::aid-cncr2820210208>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - melanosome , golgi apparatus , ultrastructure , melanin , endoplasmic reticulum , vesicle , electron microscope , amelanotic melanoma , microbiology and biotechnology , melanoma , biology , anatomy , biochemistry , membrane , physics , genetics , optics
The ultrastructure of human malignant melanoma cells cultured in vitro was investigated with electron microscopy. The first recognizable structure related to the melanosome appears as an enlargement of lamellae in the Golgi area and to a much smaller degree in the area of the endoplasmic reticulum. These structures ultimately develop into the intermediate vesicles, which usually contain granules of 20 to 30 Å in diameter. As maturation of the intermediate vesicle progresses the granules conglomerate into coarser units of 80 to 150 Å, filling the vesicles. The next step in the maturation leads to the development of the premelanosome, in which the emergence of fibrillar structures of definite pattern and size is a characteristic finding. Melanin deposition occurs along these fibrillar structures until the concentration of the pigment obliterates all recognizable structures of the melanosome. In amelanotic melanoma cells some development toward the melanosome occurs but the structures usually are defective and do not progress beyond the stage of the early premelanosome. The findings with cultured human melanoma cells afford a detailed picture of the genesis of the melanin‐forming organ and may serve as a further model for the study of such cells.