Distribution of estrogen receptor heterogeneity in growing MCF-7 cells measured by quantitative microscopy

✍ Scribed by Jacqueline Palmari; Christophe Dussert; Yolande Berthois; Claude Penel; Pierre Marie Martin

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 254 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0196-4763
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0320(19970101)27:1<26::aid-cyto4>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

The existence of interactive subpopulations is a biological feature that can modulate the proliferation of tumor cells. The hormone-responsive breast cancer cell line MCF-7 has been described as heterogeneous in terms of density. In this study we describe a quantitative image analysis methodology that we developed for the in situ detection of different subpopulations in MCF-7 cell cultures. Using this technology, we demonstrate the heterogeneity of the MCF-7 cell line in terms of both nuclear size and estrogen-receptor content. Analysis of the organization (topography) of the different subpopulations in culture reveals a nonrandom distribution of cells.

When studying the development of these cell subpopulations as a function of time of culture, we observe modifications of their topography associated with an increase of estrogen-receptor-expressing cells. Moreover, the use of cluster analysis allows study of the local organization of these subpopulations. These changes appear to be independent of cell proliferation.