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THE DISTRIBUTION AND ROLE OF MICROTUBULES AND FILAMENTS IN THE NEOPLASTIC ASTROCYTES OF EXPERIMENTAL GLIOMAS
Author(s) -
LANTOS P. L.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2990.1977.tb00590.x
Subject(s) - microtubule , glial fibrillary acidic protein , intermediate filament , astrocyte , biology , cytoplasm , pathology , neoplastic cell , population , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , central nervous system , cytoskeleton , neuroscience , immunohistochemistry , immunology , medicine , biochemistry , environmental health
The distribution and role of microtubules and filaments in the neoplastic astrocytes of experimental gliomas Neoplasms of the nervous system were induced transplacentally by giving N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosourea (ENU) to pregnant rats on the 15th day of gestation. Astrocytomas and mixed gliomas with a significant astrocytic component were selected in order to study the distribution of microtubules and filaments in neoplastic fibrillary astrocytes. Electron microscopy of these gliomas revealed a population of pleomorphic astrocytes at various stages of differentiation. Poorly differentiated neoplastic astrocytes showed many microtubules but few filaments. In moderately differentiated cells there was a decrease in the number of microtubules with a concurrent increase of filaments. In well differentiated neoplastic astrocytes filaments dominated the cytoplasm forming thick, tightly packed bundles at the periphery of the cells and in the large processes, while occasional microtubules were intermingled with shorter and looser bundles of filaments. Thus, neoplastic fibrillary astrocytes in ENU‐induced gliomas simulate the various stages in the differentiation of normal fibrillary astrocytes. This suggests that the ratio of microtubules to filaments may be one of the more discriminating criteria by which the degree of differentiation of neoplastic astrocytes can be established.