ABSTRACT
The interaction of chrysotile and amphibole asbestos fibers with the cytoskeleton of cultured human mesothelial cells from nontumoral pleural effusions was studied using scanning electron and immunofluorescence microscopy. Asbestos-exposed mesothelial cells show a massive annular condensation of cytokeratin filaments, forming a concentric ring enveloping the nucleus and the phagocytosed asbestos fibers. By detergent extraction of the cells it could be shown that the asbestos fibers are in close contact with the nuclear membrane and associated with the cytoskeletal framework of the cells. An association of cytokeratin filaments with the asbestos could be observed during phagocytosis of the fibers. The disturbance of the cell cytoskeleton and the close morphologic contact between asbestos fibers and the nuclear membrane may have some relevance in explaining the well-recognized carcinogenic effects of asbestos mineral fibers.
Subject(s)
Asbestos/toxicity , Cytoskeleton/ultrastructure , Nuclear Envelope/ultrastructure , Pleural Effusion/pathology , Antibodies, Monoclonal , Cells, Cultured , Cytoskeleton/analysis , Fibroblasts/analysis , Fibroblasts/ultrastructure , Humans , Keratins , Microscopy, Electron, Scanning , PhagocytosisABSTRACT
Continuous cell lines have been established from spleen cells of patients with confirmed hairy cell leukemia (HCL). One cell line, HCL-Z1, lacks Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen (EBNA), grows attached to the substratum and retains typical features of hairy cells as revealed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. HCL-Z1 differs morphologically from the three other EBNA-positive lymphoblastoid cell lines obtained (HCL-Z2, HCL-Z3, HCL-Z4) as well as from normal spleen cells or lymphocytes. The three lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from HCL patients show similar surface features as a line from a myeloma patient. Therefore, not all cell lines derived from HCL patients may be considered as representative of the patients leukemia cells.
