INDUCTION OF PHENOTYPIC REVERSE TRANSFORMATION BY GINSENOSIDES IN CULTURED MORRIS HEPATOMA-CELLS

Ginsenosides (oligoglycosides) extracted from the root of Panax Ginseng, C.A. Meyer, induce the reverse transformation of rat Morris hepatoma cells (MH1C1) in vitro. After 24 subcultures of growth medium containing ginsenoside, MH1C1 cells were morphologically changed. These cells were relatively large and polygonal in shape with abundant fine granular cytoplasm and clear intercellular space, and resembled normal hepatocyte-like cells. These cells reversely transformed, by ginsenosides, showed much less ability to grow in a 0.33% soft agar suspension culture in comparison to control MH1C1 cells, but the doubling time of these cells was 30 h which is similar to that of original Morris hepatoma cells. In these reversely transformed cells, a remarkable increase in uptake of L-3H-ornithine in an arginine deficient medium, an increase of activity of succinate-cytochrome c reductase and a decrease in 5''-nucleotidase activity were observed.