Scanning electron microscopy of in vitro grown cells from experimentally induced neurogenic tumors.

Serially transplanted neurogenic tumors of experimental origin were explanted in vitro and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. In explants of intracerebrally transplanted gliomas, small stellate cells with branching processes were observed; in transplanted tumors of the peripheral nervous system, slender bipolar cells as well as fibroblasts emerged. The stereoscopic features were compared with the picture of conventional light microscopy. The findings are consistent with the assumption of the glial derivation of CNS-tumors induced with neurotropic alkylating carcinogens. The peripheral tumors are composed of Schwann-cell like elements and fibroblasts. The significance of the results for the cytogenetic derivation of brain tumors are discussed.