Cytologic changes in two cervical carcinoma cell lines after transfection of the wild-type p53 gene

Background. To examine morphological changes in cervical carcinoma cells after induction of overexpression of wild-type (wt) p53. Method. A dexamethazone-inducible wt-p53 cDNA was introduced into two cervical carcinoma cell lines (TMCC-1 and ME180) and morphological changes were examined under a phase contrast microscope and following Papanicolaou staining. Results. TMCC-1 clones obtained by transfection with wt-p53 gene had an altered morphology especially after induction of p53 expression by treatment with dexamethazone. These changes were characterized by cell flattening, multinucleation, micronucleation, and huge giant cells, yet the parental TMCC-1 had none of these morphological changes even after treatment with dexamethazone. Similar cellular changes were observed in ME180 clones obtained by transfection of wt-p53 gene. Conclusion. On the basis of our observations, we propose that the growth inhibition induced by expression of wt-p53 in these cervical carcinoma cell lines carrying HPV DNA sequences is not the result of G1 arrest but rather relates to a blockade in the M phase of the cell cycle.