Proliferative and Functional Impairment of Pancreatic Epithelial Cells Maintained in Vitro

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Abstract
The use of animal cells in monolayer culture for model studies of the ageing process has increased extensively during recent years. In this regard, comparatively more attention has been directed towards the limited division potential of human fibroblasts than to limits in specific functional capability of this or other cell types with time in culture (1). This may be understandable when one considers the dearth of information concerning factors, environmental or otherwise, which affect expression of differentiated function by cells in culture. Nonetheless, for many experimental gerontologists, the age-associated loss of ability to synthesize tissue-specific products is thought to represent a major consequence of tissue ageing: one which, in most cases, cannot be accounted for by concomitant loss of individual cells (2,3).