Abstract
Autoradiographs of adult mice killed at various times after injection of tritiated thymidine show significant numbers of labelled nuclei in organs in which mitoses are either very rare or completely absent. The proportion of labelled cells that divide was estimated from the decline in the number of grains per nucleus, the number of pairs of labelled cells in sheets of epithelium in squashes, the number of labelled metaphases after 6 hours' treatment with Colcemid, and the ratio of mitotic index to labelling index. The longest possible duration of G2 in the epithelial cells of seminal vesicles was deduced from the results of Feulgen photometry. The results show that only a small proportion of the labelled cells divide in the seminal vesicles and liver, whilst probably none divide in brain, smooth muscle, and heart muscle. It is suggested that, in the so called "non-dividing tissues" of adult mice, cells periodically renew their DNA by a process the details of which are as yet unknown.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (562.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- CHANG R. S., VETROVS H. Loss of radioactivity from labeled DNA of primary human amnion cells. Science. 1963 Mar 22;139(3560):1211–1212. doi: 10.1126/science.139.3560.1211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GARDER K. H., DEVIK F. Studies on the incorporation of tritiated thymidine in desoxyribonucleic acid in mouse tissues and on its radiation effects. Int J Radiat Biol Relat Stud Phys Chem Med. 1963 Feb;6:157–172. doi: 10.1080/09553006314550161. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GERBER G., BERGER G., ALTMAN K. I. The catabolism of tissue nucleic acid in the rat. I. The replacement time of deoxribonucleic acid. J Biol Chem. 1960 May;235:1433–1436. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MESSIER B., LEBLOND C. P. Cell proliferation and migration as revealed by radioautography after injection of thymidine-H3 into male rats and mice. Am J Anat. 1960 May;106:247–285. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001060305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- OHNISHI T., OHNISHI T. Adenosine triphosphatase activity of glycerinated muscle fibres in a mechanical field. Nature. 1963 Jan 12;197:184–185. doi: 10.1038/197184a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PELC S. R., GAHAN P. B. Incorporation of labelled thymidine in the seminal vesicle of the mouse. Nature. 1959 Jan 31;183(4657):335–336. doi: 10.1038/183335a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SCHULTZE B., OEHLERT W. Autoradiographic investigations of incorporation of H3-thymidine into cells of the rat and mouse. Science. 1960 Mar 11;131(3402):737–738. doi: 10.1126/science.131.3402.737. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]