Receptors for insulin and epidermal growth factor-urogastrone in adult human fibroblasts do not change with donor age.

The ligand binding and biological responsiveness of cultured fibroblast monolayers were measured for porcine insulin and for murine epidermal growth factor--urogastrone in skin fibroblast cultures derived from young (22 to 31 years) and old (65 to 80 years) normal male volunteer donors. The receptor characteristics of the cells studied from the two groups of donors were not found to differ. In contrast with previous data, suggesting that there may be a genetically programmed aging of the insulin binding system, it is concluded that for both insulin and epidermal growth factor, receptor characteristics do not change with adult donor age.