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Release from Density Dependent Growth Inhibition by Proteolytic Enzymes

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Abstract

CONFLUENT chick embryo cells in culture grow much more slowly than do sparse cells in conditions where significant depletion of the medium is avoided1–3. Because an important factor regulating growth seems to be the population density, this phenomenon is called density dependent inhibition of growth4. When a thin scratch is made in a slowly growing confluent culture of chick embryo cells, the cells adjoining the scratch begin to grow rapidly and continue to do so until confluence is restored3. Growth of confluent cells can also be stimulated by the addition of a macromolecular component of serum5. We now report that the addition of proteolytic enzymes to the medium of inhibited cells in concentrations too low to cause cell detachment stimulates rapid growth among the cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology and Virus Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720

    B. M. SEFTON & H. RUBIN

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  1. B. M. SEFTON
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  2. H. RUBIN
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SEFTON, B., RUBIN, H. Release from Density Dependent Growth Inhibition by Proteolytic Enzymes. Nature 227, 843–845 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227843a0

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