title: Characterization of human pituitary adenomas in cell cultures by light and electron microscopic morphology and immunolabeling.
abstract: The morphology and hormone production of pituitary adenoma cell cultures were compared in order to highlight their characteristic in vitro features. Cell suspensions were prepared from 494 surgical specimens. The 319 viable monolayer cultures were analyzed in detail by light microscopy and immunocytochemistry within two weeks of cultivation. Some cultures were further characterized by scanning, transmission and immunogold electron microscopy. The viability and detailed in vitro morphology of adenoma cells were found to be characteristic for the various types of pituitary tumors. The sparsely granulated growth hormone, the corticotroph and the acidophil stem cell adenomas provided the highest ratio of viable cultures. Occasionally, prolonged maintenance of cells resulted in long-term cultures. Furthermore, a variety of particular distributions of different hormone-containing granules were found in several cases. Both light microscopic and ultrastructural analyses proved that the primary cultures of adenoma cells retain their physiological features during in vitro cultivations. Our in vitro findings correlated with the routine histopathological examination. These results prove that monolayer cultures of pituitary adenoma cells can contribute to the correct diagnosis and are valid model systems for various oncological and neuroendocrinological studies.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurosurgery, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fazekas
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hegedüs
authors.forename: Ernö
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bácsy
authors.forename: Edit
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kerekes
authors.forename: Felicia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Slowik
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balint
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pásztor
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000239:Adenoma, Acidophil / Q000473:pathology; D018249:Adenoma, Oxyphilic / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D011388:Prolactin / Q000032:analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D011388:Prolactin; D013006:Growth Hormone