Die negative Überschußladung der Membran von normalen, proliferierenden und malignen Leberzellen der Ratte

Abstract

Partial hepatectomy in rats leads to an increase of the excess negative charge of the membrane of liver cells by 20-30% after 2 days. In the course of the next 2 weeks this value again falls off slowly. The curve of the density of charge runs about parallel to that of the mitotic index in the morning hours, although in the evening the mitotic index is very low even after partial hepatectomy, whereas the density of charge shows no daily variation. Accordingly this is an expression of the proliferative activity or the length of the sequence of generations, but not an expression of the age of the individual ceils. Ascites cells of the liver of rats however show an increased density of negative charge by about 30%. The cells of the liver of such tumor-rats in contrast have a normal charge. The possible significance of these findings for the problem of the regulation of the number of cells of the liver is discussed.