CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF TRANSPLANTED AND METASTATIC LEWIS LUNG CARCINOMA

The growth rate of Lewis lung carcinoma, either as primary subcutaneous tumors or as spontaneous lung metastases, decreases with increasing age or mass. The length of the median cell cycle of the primary tumors increased from 17.6 hr at Day 5 to 25.9 hr at Day 21 with a concomitant increase in experimental doubling time from 2.5 to 9.6 days. The length of the median cell cycle of the metastatic lung nodules was 15.2 hr in the mice bearing 21-day primary tumors. Two mathematical models were used to analyse the per cent labeled mitoses data and the results are given for comparison. The labeling index of the primary tumors decreased in a nearly linear manner with time postimplant and the percentage of cells labeled in the metastatic nodules was higher than in the primary tumors when measured in the same hosts.     

THE CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF NEUTROPHILIC CELLS

Autoradiographic data for the entry of tritiated thymidine labelled cells into the post-proliferative neutrophilic cell compartments following a single injection of isotope have been analysed in terms of two cell kinetic models which differ in the assumed relationships between cell maturation and division. Comparisons with the experimental data were made in an attempt to assess the validities of the models, and kinetic parameters for the compartments of recognizable neutrophilic cells were estimated. Control mechanisms which have been proposed for the granulocyte system are discussed in terms of the kinetic models which were chosen in their determination. Although it was not possible to make a clear choice between the proposed models, preference was established for a random model which did not involve cell loss.     

THE EFFECT OF A SINGLE INJECTION OF HYDROXYUREA ON CELL POPULATION KINETICS IN THE SMALL BOWEL MUCOSA OF THE RAT

The effect of a single injection of hydroxyurea (HU) on cell population kinetics in the jejunal crypt of the rat was studied using autoradiography with tritiated thymidine and metaphase arrest with vincristine. HU appeared to act selectively on cells in the S phase producing inhibition of DNA synthesis and cell death. The deficit in proliferating cells was made good by a decrease in cell cycle time and an increase in growth fraction. Particular attention was paid to the basal, slowly cycling (and possibly clonogenic) crypt cells; early in the recovery sequence an increase in cell production rate was found in the base of the crypt. It is proposed that basal crypt cells, having survived cycle-specific insult because of long cell cycle times, proceed to repopulate the depleted proliferative compartment.     

ACTIVITY OF TUBULOSINE ON THE KINETICS OF ROOT MERISTEM CELL POPULATION

The action of tubulosine on the mitotic cycle was studied using continuous labelling with tritiated thymidine. This alkaloid provokes a lengthening of the G₁ and S phases and a blocking of G₂ is totally reversible when the treatment is followed by recovery in normal medium. At a dose of tubulosine which induces a reversible mitostasis in the shortest possible time the lengthening of the phases of the cell cycle was estimated by three different techniques: labelled mitoses for the determination of G₂; labelling intensity for the determination of S; binucleate cells for the determination of T, and an original technique using labelling index of binucleate cells for the determination of G₁. The limits of the technique of labelled mitosis together with the interest of the technique aiming at the direct determination of G₁ in the case of a perturbed cycle are then discussed.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS AND DESQUAMATION SKIN REACTIONS IN PLUCKED AND UNPLUCKED MOUSE SKIN

The kinetics of cellular proliferation in plucked and unplucked dorsal skin of mice after local X-irradiation are described, in relation to the time course of the gross desquamation reaction in skin of the dorsum and of the foot.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF THE RECOGNIZABLE ERYTHROID CELLS IN THE RAT

The cell population kinetic parameters defining a simple model of the recognizable part of the erythroid system have been determined. Experimental results using tritiated thymidine and radioactive iron autoradiography have provided estimates of the number of cell divisions, transit times and flow rates for all the recognizable stages of the erythroid system. The accuracy of the estimates and the validity of the model employed are discussed.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS IN CALLUS TISSUES OF CULTURED PEA ROOT SEGMENTS

Two callus tissues, one composed of diploid and the other of a mixture of diploid and polyploid cells, were derived by culturing 1-mm pea root segments; the mixed callus tissues were obtained by incorporation of kinetin in the culture medium. The callus tissues were used to determine (a) if cell proliferation was altered with the change in cell constituents of a callus; (b) the rate at which polyploid cells increased after kinetin stimulation; (c) the nature of the mitotic cycle in the diploid and mixed polyploid callus tissues; and (d) if the mitotic cycle changed as the tissue aged. Histological, cytological, radioisotope, and radioautographic analyses were made on callus tissue ranging from 1 to 4 days old. The results indicated that gross morphological changes were associated with the anatomical location of the proliferative cells. They showed that the percentage of polyploid division figures after stimulation by kinetin increased rapidly during the first 6 to 7 days in culture and then continued to increase at a much reduced rate. Cell counts revealed that cell proliferation in the mixed callus tissue was initially delayed when compared with the diploid tissue, but that after the delay was overcome cell number increased in each in similar manner. Analysis of the number of DNA-synthesizing cells showed that their percentage was highest during the first 2 days of culture and then leveled off at a value of about 10%. Mitotic cycle analysis indicated that it could be accurately measured only in the younger diploid callus tissues and that it increased in variability with increased age.     

INCREASE IN FUNCTION DURING GROWTH OF A SINGLE CELL ORGANELLE

The gradient diver method has been adapted to measure photosynthesis during the early development of a single zygote of the multicellular green alga Ulva mutabilis Føyn. The cells have only one chloroplast, and the results indicate that during growth of the chloroplast the rate of O₂-production increases linearly in the early part of the cell cycle but remains constant or decreases at the end of the cycle.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS IN THE RAT JEJUNAL CRYPT

Cell kinetics in the jejunal crypt of the male Wistar rat were studied using autoradiographic techniques with tritiated thymidine and a stathmokinetic technique with vincristine. The migration rate measured by following the movement of the 50 % peak on the labelling index distribution curve with time after injection of tritiated thymidine gave a value of 1.43 ± 0.14 (SE) cell positions per hour, compared with a value from a cumulative birth rate of 1.78 cell positions per hour. The crypt column length was 32.9 ± 0.2 cells and the column count was 22.3 ± 0.2. This measurement gave a total crypt population of 734 cells, compared with an estimate of 650 ± 6 from direct observation of squashed, microdissected crypts. In each crypt 22.5 ± 0.5 mitoses were present, and the crypt cell production rate was 32 cells per crypt per hour; this latter value was confirmed using two independent techniques. The crypt growth fraction calculated from the durations of phases of the cell cycle and the labelling index was 0.62. A value of 0.61 was found from the labelling index distribution curve. As assessed from crypt squashes, there were 403 proliferating cells per crypt.     

EFFECTS OF SINGLE AND MULTIPLE EXPOSURES OF FERULIC ACID ON THE VEGETATIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE GROWTH OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS BBL-290

Phaseolus vulgaris BBL-290 plants were grown in growth chambers in the Southeastern Plant Environment Laboratory and exposed to either single (at seedling, flower, or podfill) or multiple (biweekly or weekly) treatments of ferulic acid (FA). In the first experiment, plants were harvested one week after FA treatment (0, 1.0, 2.0 mM) and at final harvest (56 days old). FA delayed leaf expansion during the seedling and flowering stages. The total plant leaf area and the plant dry weight of plants treated with 1.0 and 2.0 mM FA as seedlings were reduced one week after treatment by 38–48%. The total plant leaf area and the plant dry weight of plants treated at flowering with 2.0 mM FA were reduced by 25% one week after treatment. Treatment with 2.0 mM FA at podfill caused the senescence and abscission of older leaves and reduced total plant leaf area, plant dry weight and mean pod dry weight by 54, 40, and 48%, respectively, one week after treatment. The plants treated at the seedling and flowering stages recovered by final harvest. In a subsequent experiment, FA (0, 0.50, 1.0, 1.5 mM) reduced total plant leaf area at the seedling and flowering stages but not at podfill. The youngest expanding leaves were most sensitive to FA at flowering. The leaf area of these leaves was reduced by 35 and 25%, one and two weeks after treatment, respectively. Their absolute growth rates were reduced from 31 to 56% one week after treatment at flowering. Their relative growth rates were reduced by 50% one week after treatment. Growth rates then recovered within two weeks after treatment. In the final experiment, biweekly exposures of FA (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0) reduced total plant leaf area but did not affect any other growth parameters. Weekly exposures of FA (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0) reduced total plant leaf area up to 34%, absolute growth rate up to 58%, leaf number up to 31% and pod number up to 58%. As the frequency of exposure to FA increased, the concentration necessary to affect bean plant growth and development decreased.     

THE CELL POPULATION KINETICS AND RESPONSE TO AN S-PHASE SPECIFIC AGENT OF THREE TRANSPLANTABLE COLON TUMOR LINES

The relative cell population kinetics of three transplantable murine colon tumor lines (Colon 26, 36 and 38) with different histological and metastatic characteristics were studied in relation to the response of each line to an S-phase specific agent. The mean doubling times for the three lines between 0·1 and 1·0 g are similar (4·2 days) but marked differences are apparent in times to tumor appearance (0·1 g) and in median days to death. The length of the cell cycle is about one day and the length of the S-phase 10–11 hr for Colon 36 and 38. The length of the cell cycle in Colon 26 is difficult to estimate by conventional methods but probably exceeds 24 hr and the S-phase is 10–11 hr; [³H]TdR pulse labeling indices for Colon 36 and 38 decrease with time and tumor size from about 0·45 in 0·1 to 0·2 g tumors to about 0·33 at 3 g. The decrease in the [³H]TdR labeling index for Colon 26 is more pronounced (from about 0·38 at 0·1 g to 0·21 at 1·0 g). The shapes of the PLM curves and the [³H]TdR labeling index data are consistent with the observed sensitivity to an S-phase specific agent (Palmo-AraC, NSC 135962) in Colon 36 and the minimal response observed in Colon 26. Colon 38 is intermediate between Colon 36 and Colon 26 in kinetic properties and in response to the S-phase agent.     

CLONE SIZE ANALYSIS: A PARAMETER IN THE STUDY OF CELL POPULATION KINETICS

The method of clone size analysis is described. Such an analysis provides a measure of the distribution of generation times in a cell population. Treatment by ionizing irradiation leads to perturbation of the generation times of a cell population and such perturbations are shown by changes in the clone size distribution. Distributions were compared after neutron irradiation and β-irradiation with those after X-rays; and also between X-irradiation under aerobic and anoxic conditions. At the same level of cell survival no differences were found between the patterns of cell survival with respect to generation times. Other uses of clone size analysis are discussed.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF AN OSTEOGENIC TISSUE · I

Cell proliferation on the actively growing periosteal surface of the femur of rabbits aged 2 weeks has been investigated using autoradiographic techniques. Injections of tritiated glycine and tritiated thymidine were given simultaneously and the animals sacrificed at intervals from 1 hour to 5 days after injection. The glycine labeled the position of the bone surface at the time of injection and the thymidine labeled the cells which were synthesising DNA. The rate of increase in the cell population was determined by counting the number of cells beyond the glycine label at different times after injection. The cell kinetics of the fibroblast-pre-osteoblast-osteoblast-osteocyte system has been studied. The fibroblasts are relatively unimportant from the point of view of increase in the cell population. The main site of cell proliferation is the layer of pre-osteoblasts on the periosteal surface. The rate of movement of cells from the pre-osteoblast to the osteoblast and osteocyte compartments has been measured. The incorporation of osteoblasts into the bone is not a random process, but it appears that the osteoblast must spend a certain time on the periosteal surface before becoming either an osteocyte or a relatively inactive osteoblast lining an haversian canal. It was estimated that, on an average, an osteoblast produces 2 or 3 times its own volume of matrix during its most active period on the periosteal surface.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF AN OSTEOGENIC TISSUE · II

A study of the cell kinetics on the actively growing periosteal surface of the femur of rabbits aged 2 weeks has been continued. A single injection of tritiated thymidine was given and the rabbits killed from 1 hour to 4 days after injection. The grain count spectra of the different cell types, pre-osteoblast, osteoblast, and osteocyte, have been compared at different times after injection. The results showed evidence for the uptake of thymidine in nuclei which is not associated with cell division. A small percentage of osteoblasts was initially labeled at 1 hour and there was evidence that the majority of these had not divided by 3 or 4 days after injection. Some thymidine-labeled cells had also become osteocytes without division. Furthermore, it appeared that a considerable fraction of the initially labeled pre-osteoblasts did not divide. The S period for the pre-osteoblasts and osteoblasts was measured using a double-labeled thymidine technique.     

KINETICS OF NUTRIENT UPTAKE AND GROWTH IN PHYTOPLANKTON1

Microscopic algae can grow rapidly in natural waters that are extremely low in essential macro and micro nutrients. Yet, their nutrient uptake systems exhibit only mediocre nutrient affinities, the saturation constants being often 10–1000 times the (estimated) ambient concentrations. The large difference which exists between the saturation constants for growth (K_u) and short term uptake (K_p) are due to the acclimation capabilities of the organisms. Over the acclimation range, K_u, to K_p the algae can maintain maximum growth rate by modulating both their internal nutrient quotas (Q) and their maximum short term nutrient uptake rates (P_max) in response to variations in external nutrient concentrations. The commonly assumed hyperbolic relationships for steady growth and uptake (viz “chemostat theory”) are coherent with a hyperbolic expression for short term uptake including a variable maximum (P_max). The ratio of the saturation constants for growth and uptake is then directly related to the extreme in quotas and maximum uptake rates: K^μ/K^ρ= Q^min/Q^maxρ^max/ρQ^max. This result is applicable even when the exact hyperbolic laws are not. Published data on Fe, Mn, P and N limitation in algae are generally in accord with the theory and demonstrate a wider acclimation range for trace than for major nutrients.     

CELL KINETICS OF A CHONDROSARCOMA

The cell kinetics of the transplantable DC-II mouse chondrosarcoma have been studied by the pulse labelled mitoses method. The analysis gave the following estimates for the phases of the cell cycle: G, 10-5 hr; S, 9-5 hr; G₂, 4 hr with an intermitotic time of 23-5 hr. Consideration of the overall growth of the tumour indicated that the growth fraction and cell loss factor both had values of about 0–5. The results are compared with cell kinetic data from sarcomas and other cartilage tissues.