Unlocking the ultrastructure of colorectal cancer cells in vitro using selective staining

Table 1 Ultrastructural and morphological features of Caco-2 (sub-population 1 and 2, HT-29 and SW480 cell lines)

Cell line	Days post-confluency	Cell type	Nucleus	Intercellular space	Microvilli	Invasive processes	Mitochondria	Golgi	sER	rER	Junctions	Glycogen	Vacuoles
Caco-2 sub-pop 1	1	Simple squamous	Indented (I/N rods)	++	+/-	+/-	+	+	+	+	+Des	-	-
											-TJ
Caco-2 sub-pop 1	12	Stratified cuboidal	I/N rods	+++	+	+/-	+	+	+	+	+Des	+++	-
											-TJ
Caco-2 sub-pop 2	1	Simple squamous	Round	+	++	+/-	+	++	+	+	++Des	-	+
											+TJ
Caco-2 sub-pop 2	12	Simple columnar	Round	+	+++	-	++	++	+	++	+++Des	+++	+
											+TJ
HT29	1	Stratified cuboidal	Round	+++	+++	-	+	+	+	+	++Des	-	-
											-TJ
HT29	12	Stratified cuboidal	I/N rods	+++	+++	-	+	+	+	+++	++Des	+/-	+++
											-TJ
SW480	1	Simple squamous	Round	+	+++	+++ 4 μm	+++	++	+	+++	+/-Des	-	-
											-TJ
SW480	12	Simple squamous (spindle shape)	Round	+	+++	+++ 8 μm	+++	++	+	+++	+/-Des	+	-
											-TJ

-: Absent; +/-: Present; +: Small; ++: Intermediate; +++: Large; I/N: Intranuclear; Des: Desmosomes; TJ: Tight junction.