Comparative morphology of cells located on glass and in the loose connective tissue: a study by scanning electron microscopy.

Most of the studies dealing with cellular shape, surface configuration, and motility are carried out in vitro on plane substrata. During the past years, the direct transfer of results obtained under these conditions to the cellular behavior displayed in the living organism, has been increasingly challenged. For this reason we have investigated the above mentioned functions of different cell classes localized on glass and in the loose connective tissue. The cells utilized were: fibroblasts and macrophages from normal rat and rabbit mesenteries, V2 rabbit carcinoma cells and L5222 rat leukemia cells. The combination of time-lapse cinematography and scanning electron microscopy revealed that motility and surface features are the same, irrespective of the immediate surrounding. Cellular shape and attachment, on the other hand, are dependent on the substrate. Fibroblasts, macrophages and cells of epithelial origin, including carcinoma cells, flatten on glass, but have a rounded configuration in the tissue. The flat leading lamellae displayed during locomotion on glass, are not evident in cells migrating through tissues. What regards attachment devices, extensively studied on glass, their formation and position within a tissue are, at present, a matter of speculation. Although it can be assumed that a similar process is operable in vivo and in vitro, clarification rests upon the use of ultrahistochemical techniques.