Macromolecular synthesis in human diploid fibroblasts. A viral probe examining the effect of in vivo aging.

The replication of vesicular stomatitis virus was examined in early-passage skin fibroblast cultures from old and young human donors. The production of virus was analysed by measuring synthesis of viral RNA in actinomycin D-treated cells, and by determining the yield of biologically-active viral progeny by plaque assay. Although no statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed between old and young cultures, our assays were shown to be capable of detecting impaired macromolecular synthesis induced by incorporation of amino acid analogues. These results indicate that macromolecular synthesis does not appear to be significantly altered in cells from older donors.