QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF SILVER STAINING NUCLEOLAR ORGANIZER REGIONS (AGNORS) IN HUMAN TONGUE CARCINOMA CELL-LINES

Six morphometric parameters related to nuclear size, number of AgNORs, and area of AgNORs in two tongue carcinoma cell lines were analyzed b y an image analyzing system. It was discovered that AgNOR numbers, the area of all AgNORs in the nucleus, the ratio of mean area and size, a nd nuclear size are the parameters demonstrating the most consistent p attern of change against passage numbers in T1 and T2 human tongue car cinoma cells. These changes may be related to 'dedifferentiation' of t umor cells in prolonged culture.