title: Transformation of rat fibroblasts by tgf-Beta - restriction to a minor subpopulation, rather than a rare event.
abstract: TGF-beta has the ability to transform rat fibroblasts, but it also induces neigbouring normal cells to eliminate newly arizing transformed cells. Therefore, the transforming effect of TGF-beta can only be demonstrated when it is added to rat fibroblasts sparsely seeded in soft agar. Combination of monolayer and soft agar cultures revealed the unexpected result that transformation of rat fibroblasts by TGF-beta acts on a distinct subpopulation rather than reaching the total population. As a consequence, the comparison of transformed cells with the parental untransformed random cell population is not adequate to define alterations acquired during the transformation process.
authors.affiliation: UNIV FREIBURG,INST MED MIKROBIOL & HYG,VIROL ABT,D-79104 FREIBURG,GERMANY.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dichgans
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hofler
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bauer