Studies on the Differentation of Human and Experimental Gliomas in Organ Culture Systems

Abstract

Tissue culture techniques have been used for many years for the study of tumors of the nervous system (1–3). They have contributed a great deal of information bearing mostly on problems of cell morphology and, to some extent, cytogenesis. This is because, by their very nature, the technical advantages and limitations of these methods effectively restrict them to a largely cytologic approach in the study of tumors. Since the explants, covered by the fluid nutrient medium, are generally grown on a flat impervious glass surface, either with or without an adherent substrate such as plasma clot or reconstituted collagen, the tissue culturist necessarily has his attention focused on the proliferation and movement of individual cells that have migrated from the primary explant in a relatively two-dimensional direction. The great advantage is that the method of observation permits the optical study of whole cells, with an emphasis on their dynamic properties and their modulations in form with the passage of time and in response to regularly controlled changes in their environment.

Supported by Research Grant CA-11689 from the National Cancer Institute, U.S.P.H.S. The initial stages of this work were supported also by grants from the American Cancer Society (Special Grant 504 from the California Division and Institutional Grant IN 32J) and from the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research (DRG 1092).