Skip to main content
PMC home page
The American Journal of Pathology logoLink to The American Journal of Pathology
. 1976 Jun;83(3):485–491.

Cellular autophagocytosis induced by deprivation of serum and amino acids in HeLa cells.

J S Mitchener, J D Shelburne, W D Bradford, H K Hawkins
PMCID: PMC2032507  PMID: 937509

Abstract

Morphologic alterations in HeLa cells deprived of serum and amino acids were studied by light and electron microscopy. After complete deprivation for 1, 3, or 6 hours, many cells contained autophagic vacuoles enclosing clearly recognizable cell organelles. The proportion of cells showing autophagy rose from 4 to 37% in the first 3 hours of deprivation. Acid phosphatase reaction product was localized within many of the autophagic vacuoles by a modified Gomori method. After 12 to 24 hours of deprivation, many membranous residual bodies were noted within the starved HeLa cells. These electron microscopic studies indicate that complete deprivation of serum and amino acids provides a useful model for the further study of cellular autophagocytosis.

Full text

PDF
486

Images in this article

493Figure 1
on p.493
494Figure 2
on p.494
495Figure 3
on p.495
495Figure 4
on p.495
497Figure 5
on p.497
498Figure 6
on p.498
498Figure 7
on p.498

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arstila A. U., Jauregui H. O., Chang J., Trump B. F. Studies on cellular autophagocytosis. Relationship between heterophagy and autophagy in HeLa cells. Lab Invest. 1971 Feb;24(2):162–174. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arstila A. U., Nuuja I. J., Trump B. F. Studies on cellular autophagocytosis. Vinblastine-induced autophagy in the rat liver. Exp Cell Res. 1974 Aug;87(2):249–252. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(74)90477-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BRANDES D., BUETOW D. E., BERTINI F., MALKOFF D. B. ROLE OF LYSOSOMES IN CELLULAR LYTIC PROCESSES. I. EFFECT OF CARBON STARVATION IN EUGLENA GRACILIS. Exp Mol Pathol. 1964 Dec;90:583–609. doi: 10.1016/0014-4800(64)90036-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Barton A. A., Barton M. Electron microscope studies on the effect of thiotepa on the cytoplasm of fibrosarcoma cells grown in tissue culture. Br J Cancer. 1965 Sep;19(3):527–530. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1965.64. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown S., Teplitz M., Revel J. P. Interaction of mycoplasmas with cell cultures, as visualized by electron microscopy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Feb;71(2):464–468. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.2.464. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. EAGLE H., PIEZ K. A., FLEISCHMAN R., OYAMA V. I. Protein turnover in mammaliar cell cultures. J Biol Chem. 1959 Mar;234(3):592–597. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fedorko M. E., Hirsch J. G., Cohn Z. A. Autophagic vacuoles produced in vitro. I. Studies on cultured macrophages exposed to chloroquine. J Cell Biol. 1968 Aug;38(2):377–391. doi: 10.1083/jcb.38.2.377. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Helminen H. J., Ericsson J. L. Studies on mammary gland involution. II. Ultrastructural evidence for auto- and heterophagocytosis. J Ultrastruct Res. 1968 Nov;25(3):214–227. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(68)80070-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Homewood C. A., Warhurst D. C., Peters W., Baggaley V. C. Lysosomes, pH and the anti-malarial action of chloroquine. Nature. 1972 Jan 7;235(5332):50–52. doi: 10.1038/235050a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kerr J. F., Wyllie A. H., Currie A. R. Apoptosis: a basic biological phenomenon with wide-ranging implications in tissue kinetics. Br J Cancer. 1972 Aug;26(4):239–257. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1972.33. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lane N. J., Novikoff A. B. Effects of arginine deprivation, ultraviolet radiation, and x-radiation on cultured KB cells. A cytochemical and ultrastructural study. J Cell Biol. 1965 Dec;27(3):603–620. doi: 10.1083/jcb.27.3.603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. ROBBINS E., GONATAS N. K. THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF A MAMMALIAN CELL DURING THE MITOTIC CYCLE. J Cell Biol. 1964 Jun;21:429–463. doi: 10.1083/jcb.21.3.429. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Righetti P., Little E. P., Wolf G. Reutilization of amino acids in protein synthesis in HeLa cells. J Biol Chem. 1971 Sep 25;246(18):5724–5732. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shelburne J. D., Arstila A. U., Trump B. F. Studies on cellular autophagocytosis. The relationship of autophagocytosis to protein synthesis and to energy metabolism in rat liver and flounder kidney tubules in vitro. Am J Pathol. 1973 Dec;73(3):641–670. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Spendlove R. S., Crosbie R. B., Hayes S. F., Keeler R. F. TRICINE-buffered tissue culture media for control of mycoplasma contaminants. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1971 May;137(1):258–263. doi: 10.3181/00379727-137-35556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Trump B. F., Bulger R. E. New ultrastructural characteristics of cells fixed in a glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide mixture. Lab Invest. 1966 Jan;15(1 Pt 2):368–379. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The American Journal of Pathology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Investigative Pathology

RESOURCES