Concomitant alterations of microfilaments and microtubules in human epithelial cells (HBL-100) in relation to their malignant conversion.

The organization of microfilaments and microtubules was studied in human epithelial HBL-100 cells at different steps in their malignant conversion. This conversion was obtained either spontaneously upon successive in vitro subcultures (approximately p. 70), or after superinfection of early passage non-tumorigenic cells (p. 28) with Kirsten murine sarcoma virus. Our results point out a clear relationship between the progression of cells toward malignancy, whatever the modality of malignant transformation, and severe cytoskeleton modifications. The fragmentation of F-actin fibers was the earliest event occurring at p. 46, before the appearance of tumorigenicity. In tumorigenic cells, intracytoplasmic F-actin was nearly completely fragmented, the bundle of peripheral actin was loosened and poorly stained whereas the tubulin network was more important and more largely extended throughout the cytoplasm than in non tumorigenic cells.