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TRITIATED THYMIDINE LABELLING OF NORMAL HUMAN EPIDERMAL CELL NUCLEI
Author(s) -
LACHAPELLE J. M.,
GILLMAN T.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1969.tb16043.x
Subject(s) - in vivo , labelling , in vitro , cell , thymidine , reproducibility , biology , pathology , chemistry , biochemistry , medicine , chromatography , genetics
SUMMARY.— Only 2 methods for the incorporation of radioactive tracers into skin i.e. the local in vivo method and the in vitro method can be seriously considered for routine clinical use in man. Both methods‐and especially the in vitro method as modified by us—are described in detail. The patterns of epidermal labelling and the labelling indices seen in the same skin fields, from the same 6 healthy human male volunteers, with the in vivo and in vitro techniques are directly compared. These two methods were found to yield very similar results. Thus, the average percentage of labelled basal cell nuclei was found to be 2·2% (range 1·9%, to 2·6%) with the local in vivo method and 2·3% (range 2·0% to 2·6%) with the in vitro method. The average percentage of labelled epidermal cell nuclei was found to be 2·1% (1·7% to 2·5%) with the in vivo method and 2·2% (range 1·4% to 3·0%) with the in vitro method for the same skin field. It is concluded that the local in vivo labelling method will probably provide invaluable data on cell and metabolite turnover rates, and its use should perhaps be limited to such studies. For all other purposes, however, the in vitro method, here detailed, seems to be preferable for routine clinical studies because of its safety, simplicity and reproducibility.