The control of DNA synthesis in primary cultures of hepatocytes from adult and young rats: interactions of extracellular matrix components, epidermal growth factor, and the cell cycle.

Hepatocytes from adult and 4-week-old rats cultured on one of several extracellular matrix components were stimulated to replicate by epidermal growth factor (EGF). DNA synthesis was increased at 44-48 hr in adult hepatocytes and at 24, 48, and 72 hr in hepatocytes from young rats when EGF was added 2 hr after explantation. When EGF was added at 24 hr, maximal DNA synthesis of adult hepatocytes was observed at 48 hr, whereas that of 4-week-old hepatocytes was seen at 48 and 72 hr. Ten ng EGF per ml was the optimal concentration for maximal DNA synthesis in both adult and young cells. DNA synthesis decreased with increasing cell density, but this effect was less in hepatocytes from young than in those from adults. When hepatocytes were cultured on substrata consisting of individual extracellular matrix components, neither the time that adult cells needed to respond to EGF nor the time from stimulation by EGF to the peak of maximal DNA synthesis was altered in either adult or young cells. The optimal EGF concentration for maximal DNA synthesis and the cell density control of replication were also not altered by the substrata used. Substrata made from each of the extracellular matrix components studied enhanced DNA synthesis of adult and young hepatocytes stimulated by EGF in the following decreasing order: fibronectin, type IV collagen, type I collagen, and laminin. In both adult and young hepatocytes the enhancement of DNA synthesis was greatest when cultured on fibronectin. Thus the initiation and magnitude of DNA synthesis in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes were altered both by the age of the donor and the substratum on which the cells were explanted.