[Aging and limited capacity for division of normal, diploid amphibian fibroblasts in vitro in relation to cell nucleus transplantations in amphibia].
In many experiments Hayflick had proved the limited division capacity of lung fibroblasts derived from different mammalian species, chicken and tortoise. Gurdon transplanted the nuclei of differentiated Xenopus cells into enucleated eggs yielding a complete development of the hybrid individuals. These results arise the question about a reprogramming of cell nuclei concerning their division capacity. On the other hand, amphibian cells may not show any proliferative limit. Thus, primary cultures were established from tadpoles, recently metamorphosed frogs and adult animals, respectively. The latent period of the tissue explants proved to be dependent on donor age. The cell strain I401 showed the characteristic degeneration phenomena after six subcultivations and ceased to proliferate. These results lead to the conclusion that nuclear transplantation into an enucleated egg yields reprogramming of the nucleus, including the reprogramming of the division capacity as much as the biological age of the nucleus.