Relationship between Cell Kinetic Changes and Metabolic Events during Cell Senescence in Vitro

Abstract

It was previously shown that human fibroblasts originated from adult human donors go through less generations in vitro than fibroblasts originating from human embryos (l). These findings led to the suggestion that the division potential of cells declines with aging. This hypothesis was further supported by the findings that cells obtained from human adults, early during their life in vitro are kinetically similar to embryonic cells during the last stages of their in vitro lifespan (2); that the potential number of doublings in vitro is inversely proportional to the age of the donor (3); that the cells originating from individuals with premature aging havc a reduced division potential (5); and that one of the manifestations of aging in cell culture, the prolongation of the G2 period (6), is also found in tissue of old animals (7).