Existence of two chalone-like substances in intestinal extract from the adult newt, inhibiting embryonic intestinal cell proliferation.

The inhibiting effect of tissue extract from fully differentiated intestinal mucosa of adult animals on proliferation kinetics of exponentially growing embryonic epithelial gut cell populations was studied in the newt Pleurodeles waltlii. Crude extract was fractionated by G-200 Sephadex chromatography and the effect of fractions on cell proliferation was studied using both mitotic index and 3-H-thymidine incorporation methods. The inhibitions we obtained were then displayed by means of cytophotometric study of age distribution of intestinal gut cells around the cell cycle, measuring the Feulgen-DNA content. The results revealed the presence of two chalone-like substances in the intestine of adults. One (factor 1) is characterized by a molecular weight of between 120,000 and 150,000 and inhibits the cell cycle at the end of the G1 phase, the other (factor 2) is characterized by a molecular weight lower than 2000 and inhibits the cell cycle in the course of the G2 phase. The cells delayed in the G2 phase escape from inhibition but the cells delayed in the G1 phase do not, although availability time of both factor 1 and factor 2 is about 12 hr. It is thus thought that cells prevented from dividing in G1 phase are indefinitely delayed in this phase and possibly differentiate.