How does invitro morphology change w/cell cycle - (Aug/01/2008 )

When looking at cultured cells (10-40X), I see dramatic changes in cell size, shape and intracellular structure but I am having difficulty finding a reference that describes what is going on as these cells develop invitro. I see many references to granularity or condensed chromatin but have not been able to find an atlas of cells in culture etc.

Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

I think perhaps you mean 100-400x, but anyway... Yes, of course cells change morphology as they divide. The changes will depend on the cell type; fibroblasts typically have a leading edge and a trailing edge as they migrate around the surface, but astrocytes typically forms stellate structure that doesn't change much. Shape will also change with confluency in the dish, and the level of contact inhibition of the cells... 3T3 fibroblasts have a typical fibroblast structure at low density, but at confluency they become larger, rounder and develop a typical senescent appearance.