A scanning electron-microscope study of the surface features of mammalian cells in vitro

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Abstract
The cell surface aspects and the density, distribution and morphology of surface cytoplasmic projections (microprocesses) of HeLa, BHK and baby mouse kidney cells, maintained under different culture conditions, have been compared using scanning electron microscopy. No significant differences were noted in the surface aspects of these cell strains. Comparison of the 3 cell strains, under identical culture conditions, showed variations from one strain to another in the density and morphology of the cell surface microprocesses which may reflect basic physiological differences between the strains. For a given cell strain, variations were observed in response to changes in culture conditions indicative that the presence of surface microprocesses is related to the physiological state of the cell.