CELLULAR POLARITY CORRELATES WITH VIMENTIN DISTRIBUTION, BUT NOT TO KERATIN, IN HUMAN RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA-CELLS IN-VITRO

To investigate the relationships among vimentin, keratin and cellular polarity, reorganized glands composed of renal cell carcinoma cells we re investigated in vitro. We employed two different three-dimensional collagen gel culture methods, the ''floating sandwich method (PSM)'' a nd the ''dispersed embedding method (DEM).'' The cells composed of reo rganized glands formed by FSM culture showed distinct polarity. In con trast, the cellular polarity of the cells formed by DEM culture was le ss distinct. Keratin was evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm r egardless of the culture method. In contrast, in reorganized glands ob tained by PSM culture, vimentin was distinctly polarized at the basal pole while glands obtained by DEM culture showed random distribution o f vimentin. These results suggest that there is a close relationship b etween cell polarity and intracellular localization of vimentin, and t hat there may be different mechanisms controlling the organization of the two intermediate filament (IF) networks.