Characteristics of Proliferative Cells from Young, Old, and Transformed WI 38 Cultures

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Abstract
An important, perhaps central event in the aging of human fibroblasts in vitro is a decline in proliferative capacity exhibited by cell populations as they are carried in serial passage (1–3). In characterizing this aging process at the cell, rather than at the population level, Cristofalo and Sharf (4) have reported that there is a progressive loss by individual cells of the capacity to synthesize DNA and to complete the division cycle. Changes in size of this non-dividing subpopulation may be monitored by autoradiographic techniques, and these data have predictive value in assessing the amount of potential lifespan completed by a particular cell population during its sojourn in culture.