Cytogenetic analysis of rat pancreatic cell cultures at early passages

Abstract

Cell culture obtained from the pancreas can serve as a source of physiologically competent substitute for primary islets of Langerhans in the treatment of diabetes. However, it is possible to obtain the required number of cells only at long-term cultivation in vitro. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the risks of neoplastic transformation of cells in vitro before transplantation.Materials and methods. Cell culture was obtained by explant method from pancreas of 12-day-old rats. Cell cultures of the first to sixth passages were used for the cytogenetic analysis. In this study the number of cells with altered karyotype, cells with micronuclei, binucleated cells and the cells in a state of apoptosis were considered, mitotic index was calculated.Results. Aneuploid cells were noted at all passages in an amount of 2.2 % (1st) to 16.6 % (4th). Polyploidy manifested in a population of cells from the second (1.1 %) to the sixth passage (4.4 %) with a maximum at passage four (7.8 %). A significant increase in their number was observed since the second passage (0.3 %). We have seen a significant increase in the number of binucleated cells from the first (0.1 %) to the sixth passage (0.8 %). During the study there was a decrease in mitotic index from the first (2.7 %), to the third passage (1.5 %) and its gradual increase in fourth (1.7 %) and sixth (2.0 %) passages. In addition, there was discovered a small percentage of cells in apoptosis, their number gradually increased to the 4th passage (0.5 %). The 5th-6th passages showed decrease in the number of apoptotic cells to 0.1 %.Conclusion. There have been revealed changes in the rat pancreatic cells culture as aneuploidies, polyploidies and micronuclei, the intensity of which varied depending on the passage. However, karyotype variability of mentioned cell did not exceed the level of spontaneous mutations characteristic of mammalians.