The increase in these parameters is linked to the morphological alteration with transition from cocci of the untreated control to elongated cells.
CA125/MUC16 knockdown was associated with morphological alterations along with decreased surface expression of epithelial markers (E-cadherin, cytokeratin-18) and increased expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin, vimentin).
On the other hand, PEF elicited cardiomyogenic differentiation, which is commensurate with the tube-like morphological alterations along with the upregulation of cardiac specific markers.
However, EV71-infected cells treated with curcumin had no significant morphological alterations compared with the uninfected cells (Fig. 1A).
However, embryos singly injected either with the human NLSmut- or LC8mut-Pak1 mRNA showed very few morphological alterations, consistent with the view that deleterious effects of Pak1 overexpression on zebrafish morphology and survival depend on nuclear import (Figs. 5A and B).
Similar morphological alterations associated with pyknosis and karyorrhexis (nuclear fragmentation) were observed in cancer cells treated with cytotoxic proteins isolated from the various plant sources [ 27, 28].
The up regulation of the EMT-specific genes is accompanied by morphological alterations consistent with a loosening of cell adhesion within the aggregates and adoption of a mesenchymal-like phenotype (data not shown).
The lack of apoptosis is further confirmed by electron microscopic analysis of E6.5 embryos, in which we did not detect any morphological alterations associated with apoptotic cell death, such as condensed and fragmented nuclear chromatin or interrupted nuclear envelope, for either of the genotypes (see below the ultra-structural analyses part).
Cells rounded together and were characterized by substantial cell-surface blebbing, typical features of epithelial cancers undergoing morphological alterations associated with apoptosis [ 5].
Samples were classified according to the perinatal stress defined when the thymus, adrenal, and liver presented morphological alterations compatible with intrauterine stress.
