Microtubular Formations of Endoplasmic Reticulum in Human Pathological Tissues

Abstract

A certain modification of the endoplasmic reticulum has been described in liver in severe hyperlipidaemia and in cells from a culture of peripheral blood leukocytes of a leukemic patient. Recently cytoplasmic structures presumed to be related to virus synthesis have been reported in monkey kidney cells infected with rubella virus and in the Sticker sarcoma of the dog. During our studies with fifteen cell lines originating from different human tissues, similar cytoplasmic structures have been observed and interpreted as modifications of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).A number of cell lines have been established from either the peripheral blood leukocytes, lymph nodes, or spleens and thymuses of cancerous or noncancerous patients. Both biopsy and autopsy materials have been used. Tissues of in vitro or in vivo origin were processed for electron microscopy in the usual way.