Abstract:

BACKGROUND: In vitro culture has been a main method for studying the living cells. However, there is a big difference in the morphology of the cells and growth environment between in vitro and in vivo. So it is unclear whether the bioactivity of cells in vitro can reflect precisely the cell growth in vivo.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the morphologies of the cells cultured in vitro and their physiological function.
METHODS: Different morphologies of mouce Sertoli cells were cultured in vitro. One of morphologies was the growth of cell adherence, and the cells were flat; another cells grew in microcapsule, which showed sphere. Culture solution from the two kinds of morphologies of SCs was taken out, and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was finished for obtaining the corresponding electrophoretic band. And then, the molecular weight of protein was calculated to ascertain which kind of protein secreted by Sertoli cells with different morphologies.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There were 14 electrophoretic bands from the growth of cell adherence with flat Sertoli cells, and the molecular weight of protein distributed from 17×10³ to 158×10³. There were 10 electrophoretic bands from the cell growth in microcapsule with spherical Sertoli cells, and the molecular weight of protein distributed from 17×10³ to 58×10³. These findings suggest that there are differences between the quantity and the kind of protein which is secreted by Sertoli cells with different morphologies. There are obvious correlations between the morphologies of the cells cultured in vitro and their physiological function.