This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Silbert, S. W. Articles by Goldstein, M. N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Silbert, S. W. Articles by Goldstein, M. N.

Drug-induced Differentiation of a Rat Glioma in Vitro¹

Departments of Pathology [S. W. S.] and Anatomy [M. N. G.], Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and Pathology Service Laboratory of the St. Louis Veterans Administration Hospital [S. W. S.], St. Louis, Missouri 63106

The effects of amethopterin, actinomycin D, and 5-bromodeoxyuridine on the differentiation of a cloned line of rat glioma is described. Amethopterin caused spongioblasts to develop rapidly into cells resembling astroblasts in culture. In time, these cells progressively differentiated into sheets of intertwining astrocytes that are morphologically like astroglia from normal rat brain grown under similar conditions. Exposure of glioma cells to low concentrations of actinomycin D resulted in the accumulation of glycogen in the cell bodies and their process without cell degeneration. 5-Bromodeoxyuridine caused a striking change in the surface membrane of the tumor cells. Many desmosomes and close junctions were found. These findings indicate that further morphological differentiation of this rat glioma can be induced by manipulating the environment in which the cells are grown, in this case, by exposure to appropriate antitumor agents.

¹ These studies were supported by USPHS Grant RO1-CA10755-04 and the Research Fund of the Veterans Administration.

Received 9/27/71. Accepted 3/23/72.