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Journal of Gerontology 1983 38(5):513-518; doi:10.1093/geronj/38.5.513
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© 1983 The Gerontological Society of America

Growth Factor Responsiveness of Cultured Human Fibroblasts Declines with Age1

Andy Plisko, MD and Barbara A. Gilchrest, MD2,3

2 Thorndike Laboratories and Charles A. Dana Research Institute, Department of Dermatology. Beth Israel Hospital; Department of Dermatology and Division on Aging, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02215.


  Abstract

A sensitive culture system was used to investigate whether in vitro senescence is associated with loss of responsiveness to relevant growth factors in the cellular environment. Early passage dermal fibroblasts obtained from healthy newborns and adults were maintained 4 to 6 days in medium containing either fetal calf serum or five defined growth factors. Newborn fibroblasts consistently grew far better than adult fibroblasts in both media; dose-response curves demonstrated a greater response by newborn fibroblasts to both serum mitogens and to thrombin, insulin, and epidermal growth factor alone and in combination. These data suggest that newborn fibroblasts generally have greater mitogenic responsiveness than adult fibroblasts and that age-associated loss of growth factor responsiveness may indeed contribute to the decreased proliferative capacity of old cells.

Key Words: In vitro aging • Serum-free media

1 The authors are grateful to Drs. Thomas Maciag and Robert Weinstein for helpful discussions and to Dr. Robert M. Goldwyn, who kindly provided tissue for these experiments. The work was supported in part by grant AG 00599 from the National Institutes of Health.

3 Address reprint requests to Dr. Gilchrest at her present address: USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111


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