Intracytoplasmic desmosomes in tumor cells.
The occurrence of intracytoplasmic desmosomes in some normal and tumor cells was suggested to develop by cell fusion by previous investigators. In this study, similar structures were found in tumor biopsies and tumor cells in culture. It is suggested that these structures develop by membrane incorporation and dissolution in cells with active membrane turnover.
D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003896:Desmosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010157:Palatal Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure*