Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that microvilli develop in malignant tumor cells and that some tumor-related antigens might be located in microvilli. Transferrin receptor (TfR) is expressed in proliferating cells and may be a tumor marker.We studied the localization of TfR and the morphological characteristics of human epithelial carcinoma cell lines (HeLa cells, KB cells, HSC-7), HeLa cells transplanted to nude mice, and human oral squamous cell carcinoma by electron microscopic technique.In vitro, the number of microvilli in subconfluent condition was significantly greater than that in confluent condition. TfR was found to be located in the entire plasma membrane and in microvilli by immunoelectron microscopic technique. In vivo, TfR was predominantly present along the plasma membrane and microvilli of tumor cells. These results indicate that the proliferative ability of tumor cells might correlate with the number of microvilli.
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