Live-Cell Imaging: Cell Motility

Male Human Lung Carcinoma Epithelial Cells (A-549 Line)

The A-549 cell line was originally cultivated in 1972 from the human lung carcinoma of a 58-year-old Caucasian male. The line is commonly used to investigate a wide range of respiratory ailments, such as viral infections capable of inducing asthma, tissue damage linked to asbestos exposure, and smoking-related emphysema. Adherent and epithelial in morphology, A-549 cells are positive for keratin by immunoperoxidase staining, but are negative for reverse transcriptase, indicating the lack of integral retrovirus genomes. The A-549 line has been widely employed as a model system to study molecular mechanisms that operate during malignant cell migration.

A-549 Live Cell Video No. 1 - Following the mitotic process, the surfaces of the new daughter cells seem to bubble wildly as if they were suddenly placed under high heat and were being boiled alive. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (21.3 hour time-lapse sequence; 64 seconds - 26.9 MB).

A-549 Live Cell Video No. 2 - Broad, fan-shaped lamellipodia extend out from the A-549 lung carcinoma epithelial cells and are sporadically retracted in a flowing motion. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (25.6 hour time-lapse sequence; 77 seconds - 32.5 MB).

A-549 Live Cell Video No. 3 - A-549 cells and other epithelial lines typically form small colonies in culture, which over time can develop into sheet-like structures reminiscent of the epithelial sheets they form in vivo. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL (RealPlayer), or T1/Cable/DSL (Windows Media), or download this video clip in MPEG format (18.0 hour time-lapse sequence; 54 seconds - 22.9 MB).