Abstract
IN insects metamorphosis is controlled by a balance between juvenile hormone (neotenin) and metamorphosis hormone (ecdysone) with trophic neurosecretion responsible for periodicity1–4. Work on the reason for regression of atypical growths in Drosophila 5 during the larval stage implicated this hormonal mechanism in the observed behaviour6,7. As a result of this work, investigation of the possibility that hormones in invertebrates may have an effect on mammalian cells is in progress. In earlier work8, there were suggestive regressions of transplanted tumours in mice when ecdysone was injected into individuals bearing transplants. Although the large amount of hormone required render this type of testing impractical except on a limited scale, the results were sufficiently encouraging to stimulate additional studies in vitro.
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BURDETTE, W., RICHARDS, R. Alteration of the Growth of Mammalian Cells in vitro by Ecdysone Extract. Nature 189, 666–668 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/189666a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/189666a0
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