PROLIFERATION KINETICS OF SHAY CHLOROLEUKAEMIA CELLS GROWN IN DIFFUSION CHAMBERS IN VIVO

The proliferation kinetics of Shay chloroleukaemia cells was studied by the labelled mitoses technique and some other methods. Detailed estimates of the phase durations of the cell cycle for proliferating cells were obtained using young, exponentially growing diffusion chamber cultures; estimates of kinetic parameters were also obtained for 'old' cultures and for local subcutaneous chloroma tumours. The results enabled determination of the growth fraction and the cell loss factor.
Cell loss was found to be the dominant factor determining the growth rate of chloroleukaemia cell populations. The mechanism of cell loss was cell death. Some implications of these findings are discussed.