Deoxyribonucleic Acid Content of the Nucleus of Liver Cells after Partial Hepatectomy

Abstract

MODIFICATIONS in the deoxyribonucleic acid content of the nucleus of liver cells after partial hepatectomy were recently described in the rat¹ and the guinea pig². We tried to observe this phenomenon in the mouse. Hepatectomy was performed in fifteen specimens. Nearly one-fifth of the gland was removed by cautery. Three groups of 5 animals each were killed respectively 3, 4 and 9 days after intervention. Traces of neither infection nor haemorrhage were present. Fragments of the operated livers and of 4 control livers were fixed in a mixture of 80 parts of alcohol 96 per cent, 15 parts of formalin, 5 parts of acetic acid, dehydrated and embedded under strictly standardized conditions. Sections of the different livers were placed on the same slide, to assure an identical Feulgen-reaction. In each of the 10µ-thick sections, the deoxyribonucleic acid content of 200 nuclei was determined in situ by means of L. Lison's histophotometrical method³.