Effect of Tunicamycin on Cell Growhth and Morphology of Nontransformed and Transformed Cell Lines

Abstract

The effect of tunicamycin, an inhibitor of protein glycosylation mediated by dolichol, on the cell growth and morphology of several normal and transformed cell lines was studied. The low doses of tunicamycin (0.1_??_0.25 μg/ml) caused marked morphological alterations and a significant inhibition of cell growth in transformed cells after 24 hr but had a minimal effect on nontransformed cells. Similar effects were also observed in nontransformed cells, only when cells were treated with the high dose of tunicamycin (1.0 μg/ml). Moreover, the typical transformed cells which showed tumorigenicity and anchorage independency were generally more sensitive to tunicamycin than the nontransformed cells.
Cell spreading after division was extremely inhibited by tunicamycin, and rounded cells formed blebs and finally detached from the substratum. The dose response of tunicamycin as for the above phenomena differed in nontransformed and transformed cells.