The Transformed Cell

One of the nation's leading surgeons tells the compelling story of his headline-making experiments--scientific breakthroughs that may revolutionize the treatment of cancer. Haunted by the question "Can the body rid itself of cancer?" Dr. Rosenberg seized upon immunotherapy as the most promising path toward curing the disease and has since achieved worldwide renown for his work. 8 pages of photographs.

The Transformed Cell deals with many of the differences that may exist between transformed cells and their normal counterparts. Topics covered range from malignancy and the cell surface to cell cycle regulation in normal and transformed cells; phenotypic expression of malignant transformation and its relationship to energy metabolism; and virus-induced transformation. The involvement of cyclic nucleotides in transformation is also discussed, together with intracellular pH and growth control in eukaryotic cells. This book is comprised of 12 chapters and begins with a brief description of terminology and basic concepts relating to cancer cells, as well as some comments on tumorigenicity and cell transformation. The next two chapters explore the evidence for and against the possible correlation of in vivo tumorigenicity to in vitro changes in the cytoskeletal system; anchorage-dependent growth; plasminogen activator production; agglutinability by lectins; and cell surface and plasma membrane properties. The regulation of cell proliferation and the relationships between ion movement and energy metabolism in normal and transformed cells are then examined, along with the transformation of normal cells by infection with new genetic material from tumor viruses. The remaining chapters focus on selected cellular properties that have been purported to differ between the normal and transformed cell, with particular reference to cyclic nucleotides; polyamine metabolism; cell viscosity; mobility of cellular water; intracellular pH; and element concentration. This monograph will be of interest to biologists and medical practitioners devoted to understanding cancer cell biology and cancer therapy.

The study of the phenotypic and genetic features that characterize the malignant cell is a rapidly growing and changing field. Clearly new insights into the processes involved in normal and abnormal cell growth will facilitate our understanding of events relevant to cancer and cellular differentiation. Early studies on genetic fea tures associated with cancer focused on chromosomal abnormalities that were observable in several human malignancies. The more recent examination of onco genes and the proteins they encode has helped pinpoint many steps in different processes that might be involved in cancer. Immunologic studies of cancer have also developed from an imprecise series of investigations to a more detailed molecular examination of cell-surface struc tures that can be recognized immunologically. In the course of the development of modern tumor immunology, it has become clear that many of the antigens that can be recognized appear to be the products of genes involved in cell growth. Fur thermore, changes in the cell surface of malignant cells have often been found to include alteration of nonprotein constituents.

Adhesive Interactions in Normal and Transformed Cells describes the basic mechanisms of the ability of tissue cells to attach to each other and to the extracellular matrix. These adhesive interactions are pivotal regulators of main cellular functions, such as proliferation, survival and migration. The adhesive interactions are involved in embryonic development, regeneration, and also in inflammation and degeneration processes, which are at the basis of many diseases. Serious alterations in cell adhesion caused by the oncogenic transformation play a key role in cancer invasion and metastasis. This volume provides comprehensive information about structural, mechanistic and signaling aspects of adhesive interactions in both normal and cancer cells in comparison. Integration of such aspects of the adhesive process as structure, relation to cell systems of receptors and cytoskeleton, function, signaling pathways, and the alterations in tumor cells constitutes the strongest point of this work. The results of the long-time author’s research are included in the book. The author was one of pioneers, who used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the cell surface morphology of normal cultured cells and the cells underwent the oncogenic transformation, processes of their attachment to and spreading on the surfaces of a solid substratum, and also surprising ability of the cells to respond to various geometric configurations of the substrata surfaces. Adhesive Interactions in Normal and Transformed Cells has both biological and medical aspects and, therefore, it can be interesting not only for cell biologists, developmental biologists and cancer researchers, but also for physicians. It is intended for researchers, postdocs, undergraduate and graduate students.