Population kinetics of chromosomally abnormal human fibroblast subpopulations.

The proportion of cells with clonally derived chromosome rearrangements has been recorded at different passage levels in 16 lines of human fibroblast cultures derived from adults. All abnormal clone populations regonized at the lowest passge levels showed a stable or declining frequency relative to the normal cells, although 2 out of the 21 clones detected did show a transient increase. Only 2 clones were found at higher passage levels that were not previously identified at low passge. The observed selection against cells with rearrangements may reflect a general property of chromosome organization which ensures that cytogenetic abnormalities do not normally accumulate in rapidly dividing tissues.