Transmission electron microscopy of in vitro cultivated squamous cell carcinoma cell lines

Despite a twofold recloning, ultrastructural analysis of squamous cell carcinoma lines of the head and neck showed morphologically a very heterogeneous picture in respect of the cytoplasmatic organelles, electron density of the cytoplasma, nucleus and differentiation of the cell membranes. Most prominent were the differences in the content of mitochondria and the formation of intracytoplasmatic filaments and desmosomes. Although the cells have been cultured as single cells, they developed desmosomes in vitro. The cell contact formation varied to such a degree that the plasma membranes of the cells from the tongue squamous cell carcinoma line SCC-25, as an example, were almost completely occupied by desmosomes.