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A Synthetic Differential Growth Inhibitor

Abstract

IT has been shown1,2,3 that malt, ungerminated grain and oranges contain a water-soluble, thermostable substance which permits the free growth of epithelial tissues in vitro at concentrations at which it inhibits totally the growth of fibroblasts and other mesenchyme cells. In the present investigation, commercial malt extract has been employed, and the methods of biological assay with fragments of ten-day chick's heart have already been described2,3. Vigorous steam distillation of malt extract affords a distillate which contains a variety of substances among which, after suitable treatment, a differential inhibitor can be detected.

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References

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  2. Heaton, J. Path. Bact., 32, 565 (1929).

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  3. Medawar, Quart. J. Exp. Physiol., 27, 147 (1937).

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  4. Hofmann, Annalen, 110, 129 (1859); Doebner, Berichte, 27, 345 (1894).

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  5. The acid, C12H18O5, described by Riedel (Annalen, 361, 89; 1908) is doubtless a dimeride of δ-hexenolactone + H2O, that is, O-δ-hydroxy-Î"αÎ2-hexenoyl-δ-hydroxy-Î"-αÎ2-hexenoic acid.

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MEDAWAR, P., ROBINSON, G. & ROBINSON, R. A Synthetic Differential Growth Inhibitor. Nature 151, 195 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/151195a0

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