Effects of urethan on fish epithelial and fibroblast cells in vitro
Abstract
Scope of Study: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of urethan(ethyl carbamate) on two cell lines in vitro. Cells were grown as monolayers in milk dilution bottles. Most of the work in this paper is concerned with the effects of urethan on mitotic rates and cell morphology. However, the author also attempted to describe the effects of urethan on the presence of DNA in the cells. Findings and Conclusions: Certain concentrations of urethan (0.3%) caused an increase in the rate of cell division while higher concentrations(0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2%, and 1.5%) caused either a decrease in the rate or a cessation of cell division. Concentrations of urethan higher than 1.5% killed the cells. Epithelial cells continued to divide at a higher concentration of urethan than did the fibroblast cells. The morphological effects of urethan included vacuolization of the cytoplasm, lobed and enlarged nuclei, and in some cells the cytoplasm almost completely disappeared and the nucleus developed a thick membrane around it so that the cells resembled small lymphocytes. There were certain concentrations of urethan at which the cells did not divide, put were still alive and still contained DNA.
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- OSU Dissertations [11222]