Determination of the growth rate of human prostatic cells in primary culture by a morphometric technique

A morphometric technique, based on the measurement of the area of individual cell colonies and of its increase in time, was applied to study the rate of proliferation of human prostatic cells in vitro. The reliability of the method was checked by determination of the growth rate of cultures of the continuous cell line PC93 by the morphometrical technique as well as by counting of the cell number. No significant difference was found in the population doubling times measured by either of these methods. It was therefore concluded that the morphometrical technique could be applied also to study the growth rate of primary cultures of prostatic epithelial cells, in which counting of the cell number is generally impossible. The results showed that, with primary cultures derived from hyperplastic prostates and prostatic carcinomas as well as from the prostatic tumor line PC82, rapid growth occurred during the first two or three days of culture; measurements performed at a later time appeared to be less reliable. It was demonstrated by the effect of serum deprivation on the growth of PC82 cells that the technique described here is, in principle, suitable to monitor the effect of various agents on the growth of cells in primary culture. The method is non-destructive and requires minimal amounts of tissue; it may be applied especially to cultures that cannot be dispersed easily into single cell suspensions.     

Trends in lizard translocations in New Zealand between 1988 and 2013

There is growing concern about mitigation-driven translocations that move animals from anthropogenic threats at donor sites because of their failure rate and lack of application of scientific principles and best practice. We reviewed all known lizard translocations in New Zealand between 1988 and 2013 and identified 85 translocations of 30 lizard taxa to 46 release sites. Most translocations (62%) were motivated by conservation goals for the species or the release site, and one-third were mitigation-driven translocations, typically motivated by habitat loss due to development. Mitigation-driven translocations began in 2003, and since that time have equalled the number of conservation-motivated translocations. Conservation-motivated translocations usually released lizards on islands without mammalian predators, whereas mitigation-driven translocations usually relocated lizards to mainland sites with introduced predators. Long-term monitoring has been sparse and often rudimentary. Eight lizard translocations have recorded population growth, including one mitigation-driven translocation that was into a fenced reserve. Research on commonly used management techniques to mitigate human-related impacts is recommended to establish whether these techniques benefit lizards in the long term.