Contact inhibition

Kidney cells grown in culture with liver cells seek out and make contact with other kidney cells and avoid contact with liver cells. Cells grown in culture grow freely until they make contact with one another, at which point growth stops, a phenomenon well known as contact inhibition. One important characteristic of cancerous cells is the loss of contact inhibition. 

Contact inhibition is observed in the process of wound healing and describes the ability of a tissue to stop cell proliferation again after cellular multiplication has filled up the defect caused by a wound. 

Nagasaki, T., Chapin, C.J., Gundersen, G.G. (1992). Distribution of detyrosinated microtubules in motile NRK fibroblasts is rapidly altered upon cell-cell contact Implications for contact inhibition of locomotion. Cell Mot. Cytoskel. 23,45-60. 

Many vimses, both DNA and RNA containing, will cause cancer in animals. This so-called oncogenic achvity of a vims can be demonstrated by the observahon of tumour formahon in inoculated experimental animals and by the ability of the vims to transform normal tissue culture cells into cells with malignant characteristics. These transformed cells are easily recognizable as they exhibit such properties as rapid growth and frequent mitosis, or loss of normal cell contact inhibition, so that they pile up on top of each other instead of remaining in a well-organized layer. 

ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION MODELS 17.3.1 Contact Inhibition in Microcarrier Cultures of MRC-5 Cells... 

Contact inhibition is a characteristic of the growth of anchorage dependent cells grown on microcarriers as a monolayer. Hawboldt et al. (1994) reported data on MRC5 cells grown on Cytodex II microcarriers and they are reproduced here in Table 17.13. 

Vero Cells Grown on Microcarriers (Contact Inhibition)... 

Zygourakis, K. Bizios, R. and P. Markenscoff, "Proliferation of Anchorage Dependent Contact Inhibited Cells Development of Theoretical Models Based on Cellular Automata", Biotechnol. Bioeng., 36, 459-470 (1991). 

The scoring of foci was carried out according to the recommended guidelines. Only foci considered as positive (type III), showing deeply basophilic, dense multilayering of cells, random cell orientation at all parts of the focus edge, invasion into the surrounding contact-inhibited monolayer, and domination of spindle-shaped cells, were counted. 

Kim S, Chin K, Gray JW, Bishop JM (2004) A screen for genes that suppress loss of contact inhibition identification of 1NG4 as a candidate tumor suppressor gene in human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101 16251-16256... 

The body s cells are normally subject to strict social control. They only divide until they come into contact with neighboring cells cell division then ceases due to contact inhibition. Exceptions to this rule include embryonic cells, cells of the intestinal epithelium (where the cells are constantly being replaced), cells in the bone marrow (where formation of blood cells takes place), and tumor cells. Uncontrolled cell proliferation is an important indicator of the presence of a tumor. While normal cells in cell culture only divide 20-60 times, tumor cells are potentially immortal and are not subject to contact inhibition. 

Many aspects of the social behavior of cells are determined by the composition, arrangement, and interaction of cell-surface molecules. Therefore, changes in the composition and structure of plasma membranes appear to contribute to differences in such characteristics as cell adhesion, contact inhibition, and tumorogenicity of cells. Cell-surface glycoproteins, in particular, participate in a number of membrane-modulated phenomena, including responsiveness to hormones, agglutination by lectins, recognition by antibodies, or uptake of nutri-... 

---