Estrogens and Other Steroids in Relation to Mitosis

It has been known for a long time that active growth by mitosis occurs in certain tissues and organs related to the sex function when they 

The evidence as regards epidermal mitotic activity is as follows. In an oxygen gas phase, and with glucose as substrate. Table VII indicates how estrone can induce an approximate doubling of the mitotic rate in ear fragments taken from adult male mice and incubated in a phosphate-buffered saline medium (Bullough, 1953). However, when fructose or pyruvate is used as substrate, this doubled mitotic rate is obtained with- 

Average numbers of mitoses arrested by colchicine in 4 hr. in unit lengths (1 cm.) of sections 7 it thick of mouse ear epidermis incubated at 38°C. in 4 ml. saline medium and an oxygen gas phase. E)ach figure is the average of 10 observations. 

Alone estrone Alone estrone Alone estrone 

It is therefore obvious that the reaction stimulated by estrone must be either glucose glucose-6-phosphate or glucose-6-phosphate — fruc-tose-6-phosphate. However, it is felt that the second of these reactions can be disregarded. The action of estrone is exactly similar to that of insulin, which is well known to stimulate the glucokinase reaction, and furthermore it is only by a stimulus to this reaction that the observed vaginal and uterine glycogen deposition could be obtained. 

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