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 HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Karbach, U. Articles by Mueller-Klieser, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Karbach, U. Articles by Mueller-Klieser, W.

Rhabdomyosarcoma Spheroids with Central Proliferation and Differentiation¹

Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology [U. K., K. G., W. M-K.] and Institute of Pathology [C-D. G., H. E. G.], Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, D-6500 Mainz, Germany

A novel type of multicellular spheroids was established and characterized with regard to growth behavior, proliferation, and differentiation. The spheroids were grown from clonal rat rhabdomyosarcoma cells using the spinner flask technique. The cell aggregates showed several unique properties that were different from those observed in most of the spheroids investigated to date. These properties include a non-Gompertzian volume growth; the coexistence of undifferentiated mononuclear cells and of differentiated, myotube-like giant cells with numerous nuclei; a relatively homogeneous intraspheroidal distribution of proliferating mononuclear cells with thymidine labeling even in the center of spheroids >1 mm; the absence of necrosis in such large spheroids, and the accumulation of myotube-like cells in the center of these spheroids instead. There was a decrease in the overall proliferative activity of the mononuclear cells with increasing proportion of giant cells in the rhabdomyosarcoma spheroids.

¹ Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Mu 576/2–4) and is part of the thesis of U. K.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Pathophysiology Division, University of Mainz, Saarstrasse 21, D-6500 Mainz, Germany.

Received 9/ 3/91. Accepted 11/15/91.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. A. Kunz-Schughart, J. Doetsch, W. Mueller-Klieser, and K. Groebe Proliferative activity and tumorigenic conversion: impact on cellular metabolism in 3-D culture Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, April 1, 2000; 278(4): C765 - C780. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Mueller-Klieser Three-dimensional cell cultures: from molecular mechanisms to clinical applications Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, October 1, 1997; 273(4): C1109 - C1123. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]