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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1977 Apr;74(4):1640–1641. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.4.1640

Extension of the lifespan of cultured normal human diploid cells by vitamin E: a reevaluation.

L Packer, J R Smith
PMCID: PMC430847  PMID: 266202

Abstract

Previously we reported [Packer, L. & Smith, J.R. (1974) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 71, 4763-4767] that the lifespan of WI-38 human diploid fibroblasts in vitro was significantly increased by continuously growing the cell cultures in the presence of vitamin E(dl-alpha-tocopherol), but in 19 subsequent subcultivation series we were unable to reproduce these findings. While vitamin E is incorporated into the cells and is able to act effectively as an antioxidant, apparantly is intracellular antioxidant properties alone do not routinely result in an increase of cell lifespan. A synergism between vitamin E and some component(s) in the first of two lots of serum used in the original experiments seems the most likely explanation for our earlier findings.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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