Anti-mitotic activity associated with alkali-stable lipids in “dormant” cell microsomes

Abstract Microsomal preparations deriving from adult parenchymatous cells were reported to elicit a severe cyto-toxic effect in actively dividing cells of autologous and related cell species (1,2). The cyto-toxic mechanism, as revealed in tissue culture trials, consisted in the inhibition of pseudopodia formation, failure of cells to afix onto the glass surface and operated by suppressing both the mitotic activity (loc.cit.) and the oxidation of fatty acids (3) in cultured cells. Follow-up experiments relevant to the biochemical substratum of the anti-mitotic potency in monkey (M.Rhesus) liver cell microsomes are presented in this paper.