| Abstract: | The rate of 3H-thymidine incorporation and of cell proliferation in chick embryo fibroblast cultures are reduced coordinately when the Mg2+] of the external medium is reduced below the physiological concentration of about 0.8 mM. These effects of moderately reduced Mg2+] and the accompanying change in appearance of the cells, resemble the effects produced by lowering the serum] of the medium. Cells subjected to severe Mg2+ deprivation, especially at low Ca2+], die and detach from the culture dish. Cells kept at a reduced rate of proliferation for three days by moderate Mg2+ deprivation are quickly restored to rapid proliferation upon restoration of the normal Mg2+] of the medium. The rate of proliferation of the chick embryo cells is reduced markedly by lowering Ca2+] about 100-fold, but unlike the case of Mg2+-deprivation this can occur without significant effect on the rate of 3H-thymidine incorporation. More severe Ca2+ deprivation, which does lower the rate of 3H-thymidine incorporation, produces retraction of cells from one another and from the dish, and results in a distinctly abnormal, rounded appearance. The results lend weight to the thesis that free Mg2+] plays a central role within the cell in the coordinate control of metabolism and growth. They also suggest that the effects produced by varying Ca2+] in the medium are caused by changes at the external surface of the cell. |
