Cytology of cultured cells surviving actinomycin D.

Abstract

Moderate doses of actinomycin induce unbalanced cytoplasmic growth of surviving cells as nuclear function becomes inhibited. In HeLa cells, in which a general cytoplasmic enlargement ensues, mitochondrial growth at first is disproportionately greater than that of the rest of the cytoplasmic mass. In stationary phase cultures of primary human amnion cells, actinomycin induces a mitochondrial proliferation leading to higher volume concentrations of mitochondria, without significant augmentation of the rest of the cytoplasm.