Abstract
Summary
Employing the quinacrine-mustard flurochrome staining procedure, Q-band karyotypes were analysed in selected metaphases from early, middle, and late stages in vitro of a human fibroblastic line WI-38. Systematic shifts in the banding patterns of the chromosomes were not detected, suggesting that the chromosomes are structurally stable during all stages of senescence. It can thus be concluded that progressive chromosomal change is not a correlate of the aging process. However, the chromosome constitution of cultured WI-38 fibroblast is not uniformly diploid as suggested by previous reports. Several recurring chromosomal rearrangements, namely 1p-, 4p-, and t(11q-, 17), were detected at sufficiently high frequencies to insure their generation by minor stem cell populations. It was also observed that certain chromosomal rearrangements in the stem cell populations, as for example 4p-, resembled those associated with certain congenital abnormalities. Possibly these chromosomal modifications arise preferentially and/or the cells which bear them are not seriously disadvantaged.
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