Article: Rat lens epithelial cells in vitro. I. Observations on aging, differentiation and culture alterations

Lens epithelial cells from rats aged 5 days were grown in long-term cultures. These cells age, differentiate and transform spontaneously. Morphological observations indicate five different stages (A-E). The epithelial character is lost after the first two passages. Elongated cells appearing afterwards are considered as cells that have started differentiation to fiberlike cells. Big flattened cells are considered as senescent cells that have lost theie proliferative capacity. Data from population kinetics also reflect these five stages. Chromosome analysis shows that three of the five stages are no longer diploid. Two alternative modes of spontaneous transformation are possible. The proliferative capacity of rat lens epithelial cells is higher than that of rat embryonic fibroblast systems.

Citing Articles

Rat lens epithelial cells in vitro. II. Changes of protein patterns during aging and transformation.

RINK H, Vornhagen R In Vitro. 1980; 16(4):277-80.

PMID: 7399543 DOI: 10.1007/BF02618332.

References

1.

Papaconstantinou J . Molecular aspects of lens cell differentiation. Science. 1967; 156(3773):338-46. DOI: 10.1126/science.156.3773.338. View

2.

Fedoroff S . Proposed usage of animal tissue culture terms. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1967; 38(4):607-11. View

3.

CREIGHTON M, Mousa G, Trevithick J . Differentiation of rat lens epithelial cells in tissue culture. (I) Effects of cell density, medium and embryonic age of initial culture. Differentiation. 1976; 6(3):155-67. DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-0436.1976.tb01482.x. View

4.

Shapiro A, Siegel I, Scharff M, Robbins E . Characteristics of cultured lens epithelium. Invest Ophthalmol. 1969; 8(4):393-400. View

5.

Morgan J, Morton H, CAMPBELL M, Guerin L . The nutrition of animal tissues cultivated in vitro. II. A comparison of various synthetic media. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1956; 16(6):1405-15. View

6.

Kontermann K, Bayreuther K . Experimental evidence for a unifying concept of the molecular mechanisms of the cellular aging and the cellular neoplastic transformation. Aktuelle Gerontol. 1978; 8(8):411-8. View

7.

Piatigorsky J, Webster H, Wollberg M . Cell elongation in the cultured embryonic chick lens epithelium with and without protein synthesis. Involvement of microtubules. J Cell Biol. 1972; 55(1):82-92. PMC: 2108753. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.55.1.82. View

8.

Bayreuther K . [The genetic regulation of the aging of cells, organs, and organisms (author's transl)]. Verh Dtsch Ges Pathol. 1975; 59:110-8. View

9.

Hayflick L . Current theories of biological aging. Fed Proc. 1975; 34(1):9-13. View

10.

Russell P, Fukui H, Tsunematsu Y, Huang F, Konoshita J . Tissue culture of lens epithelial cells from normal and Nakano mice. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1977; 16(3):243-6. View

11.

Okada T, Eguchi G, Takeichi M . The expression of differentiation by chicken lens epithelium in in vitro cell culture. Dev Growth Differ. 1971; 13(4):323-36. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-169x.1971.00323.x. View

12.

Iwig M, Glasser D . [DNA and protein synthesis in cultured lens epithelial cells. I. Test system]. Acta Biol Med Ger. 1975; 34(6):987-96. View

13.

Macpherson I, Montagnier L . AGAR SUSPENSION CULTURE FOR THE SELECTIVE ASSAY OF CELLS TRANSFORMED BY POLYOMA VIRUS. Virology. 1964; 23:291-4. DOI: 10.1016/0042-6822(64)90301-0. View

Rat Lens Epithelial Cells in Vitro. I. Observations on Aging, Differentiation and Culture Alterations