Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2020
Centrosome abnormalities and abnormal mitotic formations have been shown in human breast cancer tissue and in LNCaP and DU145 prostate cancer cells in culture. Here we report on abnormal centrosome and centriole organization in the transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP) model and on the implications for abnormal cell divisions, genomic instability, and apoptosis. Centrosomes are microtubule organizing centers which assemble bipolar spindles in normal cells. In cancer, centrosomes cause the formation of mono-, tri-, and multipolar mitoses which will separate chromosomes unequally during cell division.
We investigated the occurence of abnormal mitoses in TRAMP tissue in different stages of cancer progression using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Advanced stages of prostate cancer are characterized by multiple abnormal mitoses ranging from tripolar to unusual multipolar formations. In addition, apoptotic bodies are abundant which may indicate that multipolar mitoses will lead to cell death or apoptosis.