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Journal of Experimental Biology 26,83-99 (1949)
Published by Company of Biologists 1949

The Relation Between the Epidermal Mitotic Activity and the Blood-Sugar Level in the Adult Male Mouse, Mus Musculus L

W. S. BULLOUGH ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield

1. An investigation has been made of the relation between the concentration of the blood sugar and the mitotic activity of the ear epidermis of the adult male mouse. It has been shown that, within limits, an increase in the blood-sugar level, induced by subcutaneous injections of starch, results in an increased mitosis rate. Conversely, a decrease in the blood-sugar level, induced by insulin, causes a decreased mitosis rate. A deep mitosis depression is also caused by injections of phloridzin.

2. Since it is known that phloridzin interferes with the phosphorylation of sugar, and since it is also shown that injections of phosphate augment the effect produced by starch alone, the tentative suggestion is put forward that sugar may act by satisfying the energy requirements of mitosis.

3. However, in the normal animal the diurnal changes in the blood-sugar level are the inverse of the diurnal changes in mitotic activity, the concentration of the blood sugar being relatively low during sleep when the mitosis rate is relatively high. It is therefore evident that, within normal limits, the level of the blood sugar as such is not an important factor in the control of the diurnal mitosis cycles.

4. It is considered probable that the critical factor in the control of these cycles is the concentration of sugar, or glycogen, within the tissues themselves. Thus during sleep, sugar is probably deposited in the tissues, as it is known to be in the liver, so accounting simultaneously for the fall in the level of the blood sugar and the rise in the mitosis rate.