Auersperg N, Erber H
J Natl Cancer Inst. 1976 Nov;57(5):981-94. doi: 10.1093/jnci/57.5.981.
Growth patterns and ultrastructure were compared between biopsy specimens and primary cultures of poorly differentiated carcinomas of the human uterine cervix. Though not obvious histologically, all carcinomas in vivo retained ultrastructural traits of squamous, glandular, or basal cell differentiation. Carcinomas with squamous traits grew as compact masses in vivo and formed cohesive colonies in vitro; tumors with basal and glandular traits infiltrated host tissues in a dispersed fashion, but their growth patterns in vitro were variable and unpredictable. The growth patterns of mixed carcinomas, in which squamous and glandular characteristics were evident in the same cells, generally resembled those of tumors with squamous traits. The levels of differentiation in vitro exceeded those found in vivo: Tonofilaments, desmosomes, and glycogen aggregations (squamous traits) as well as secretory vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum, and cilia (grandular traits) became more numerous and complex in culture. The direction of differentiation, expressed in vivo, usually persisted in vitro, through squamous traits appeared de novo or became more prominent when some of the tumors were explanted. The enhancement of differentiation by the culture environment indicated that the cervical carcinomas did not express their full potential to differentiate when growing in the natural host. The coexistence of squamous and glandular traits in the same cells and the capacity of tumors to shift from a glandular to a squamous differentiative pathway upon explantation support the concept that cervical carcinomas originate in bipotential cells, i.e, either reserve cells or metaplastic basal cells derived from the glandular epithelium.
对人子宫颈低分化癌的活检标本和原代培养物的生长模式及超微结构进行了比较。尽管在组织学上不明显，但所有体内癌均保留了鳞状、腺性或基底细胞分化的超微结构特征。具有鳞状特征的癌在体内生长为致密肿块，在体外形成紧密聚集的细胞集落；具有基底和腺性特征的肿瘤以分散方式浸润宿主组织，但其在体外的生长模式多变且不可预测。在同一细胞中鳞状和腺性特征均明显的混合癌的生长模式，通常类似于具有鳞状特征的肿瘤。体外的分化程度超过体内所见：张力丝、桥粒和糖原聚集物（鳞状特征）以及分泌小泡、内质网和纤毛（腺性特征）在培养中变得更加丰富和复杂。体内表达的分化方向在体外通常持续存在，不过当一些肿瘤被移出培养时，鳞状特征会重新出现或变得更加突出。培养环境对分化的增强表明，子宫颈癌在天然宿主中生长时并未充分发挥其分化潜力。同一细胞中鳞状和腺性特征的共存以及肿瘤在移出培养后从腺性分化途径转变为鳞状分化途径的能力，支持了子宫颈癌起源于双潜能细胞的概念，即储备细胞或源自腺上皮的化生基底细胞。
