Selective Damage to Fibroblasts by Desoxycorticosterone in Cultures of Mixed Tissues

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Abstract
Hearts were removed from newborn line C white mice, cut into fragments about 1 mm. across, and cemented into roller tubes with chicken plasma. Such fragments continued to pulsate in cultures and at the same time provided outgrowth of continuous sheets of polygonal, presumably endothelial, cells and elongate fibroblast type cells. Desoxycorticosterone (DOC), desoxycorti-costerone acetate (DOCA), cortisone, and cortisone acetate in various concns. were introduced into the cultures in saline soln. for various periods of time and the cultures subsequently returned to nutrient soln. 0.02 mg./ml. of DOC induced a moderate shriveling in the fibroblasts after 16 hrs. exposure. Endothelial cells became granular and sometimes shrank but were not as severely affected. Similar changes were produced by 0.2 mg./ml. of DOC from another source after exposures of 6-7 hrs. Endo-thelium usually recovered from the effects, but the rounded and shriveled fibroblasts did not. Cortisone at 0.05-0.15 mg./ml. added to DOC accelerated and increased the cytological changes, but did not interfere with the favoring of endothelium in explants which survived. In the presence of 10% serum in the saline medium, DOC showed no visible effects in doses up to 0.03 mg./ml but DOCA at 0.031 mg/ml., or cortisone acetate at 0.026 mg./ml. (both in excess of saturation), had no effect on 30 explants tested with each. Pulsation of the heart fragments was released or stopped by concns. of DOC which damaged the cells, but not by DOCA at saturation, and the pulse returned when DOC was removed.