title: Morphological and growth alterations in Vero cells transformed by cisplatin.
abstract: Cisplatin is an antineoplastic agent used to treat solid tumours, such as ovarian, testicular and bladder tumours. However, studies in vitro and in vivo have shown that cisplatin is mutagenic, genotoxic and tumorigenic in other tissues and organs. In this work, we examined the effect of cisplatin on Vero cells, a fibroblast-like cell line. The morphological characteristics were investigated using phase contrast microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and the actin cytoskeleton was labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate-phalloidin. Cell proliferation was assessed based on the growth curve. Cultured Vero cells treated with cisplatin showed behavioural and morphological alterations associated with cellular transformation. The transformed cells grew in multilayers and formed cellular aggregates. The proliferation and morphological characteristics of the transformed cells were very different from those of control ones. Since transformed Vero cells showed several characteristics related to neoplastic growth, these cells could be a useful model for studying tumour cells in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P.O. Box 6109, 13084-971 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Estela Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Cláudio Angelo
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Tomomasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Maria Lígia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rodrigues Macedo
authors.forename: Selma Candelária
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Genari
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D015197:Carcinogenicity Tests; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002945:Cisplatin