Abstract
It has been reported that succinic dehydrogenase activity in cancer cells was low, whereas DPNH-diaphorase activity was high. However, little is known about the relation of the enzymatic activities to mitosis in cancer cells. We have carried out experiments to find out any relation of these enzymes to mitois using histochemical techniques to demonstrate activities of the two flavin enzymes, and a phase contrast microscopical technique to observe the nuclear states. Succinic dehydrogenase activity in the cancer cells was too low to prove the relation of the activity to the state of mitosis. About ten percent of the total cells was found to have DPNH-diaphorase activity. The most cells with DPNH-diaphorase activity were in state of mitosis, while cells having no activity were in resting state. From these results, we concluded that DPNH-diaphorase has some relation to cell mitosis.
