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Variation in the Amounts of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in the Cell Nuclei and its Correlation with Mitotic Activity: Compensatory Hypertrophy of the Kidney

Abstract

THE deoxyribonucleic acid content of the interphasic nuclei is, for a given species, approximately the same in the different tissues and double that of the spermatic nuclei of the same species. However, it is known that certain organs contain different classes of nuclei with an amount of deoxyribonucleic acid that is a simple multiple of the basic value. This constancy of deoxyribonucleic acid content is considered by some to be absolute1; others claim on the contrary that the ‘theoretical diploid value’ is only an equilibrium value, from which the mean content varies more or less widely, as a function of the physiological2 or mitotic activity3 of the cells. The influence of mitotic activity upon the deoxyribonucleic acid content of the nuclei of the tubuli in a kidney showing compensatory hypertrophy after extirpation of the kidney on the other side has been studied by us.

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References

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FAUTREZ, J., CAVALLI, G. & PISI, E. Variation in the Amounts of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in the Cell Nuclei and its Correlation with Mitotic Activity: Compensatory Hypertrophy of the Kidney. Nature 175, 684–685 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/175684a0

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