Ultrastructure of double minutes from a human tumor cell line.

Abstract

Double minutes (dm) have been isolated from human tumor cells by zonal centrifugation and by differential pelleting of chromosome suspsension. These methods allowed collection of dm in sufficient quantity and purity for visualization with electron microscopy. Ultrastructurally, the chromatin fibers in dm resemble thrance fragments was found. When the two isolation protocols were compared, differential pelleting was shown to increase purity twofold to 85% dm by mass. The differential pelleting procedure enables easy collection of dm in sufficient quantity and purity for chemical analysis.