Evening star., 1932-03-15
TESTS SHOW LIFE
/. SLOWEDBY COPPER
Health Institute Experiments
on SinbIe Cells May
Affect Humans.
BY THOMAS II. HENRY.

Remarkable effects of almost inflni-
tesimal amounts of copper on living or
ganisms have been found in expert
ments at the National Institute of
Health here.
These experiments were conducted
close to the borderline of life with
single-cell animals, approximately 5O,-
000, 900 of which could be contained in
a cubic inch. They were placed in So
lutlons containing only one part OF
copper in 5O0,000,O00.
The purpose was to determine the ef-
feet of the metallic element on their
growth and reproduction. Each amoeba
is an individual animal, living its own
life. Its behavior, however, is very
close to that of single cell in the bouy
of a larger animal. 1t absorbs food and
grows. When it reaches critical point
in its growth it splits in two. Each
half is in a separate individual The
growth and division process is re-
peated. Thus an amoeba colony can
increase indefinitely. as long as there
is something for the little animals to
eat This is approximately what hap
pens also in the single cells, vast null
| titudeS of which go to make up the
| human body. What happens to any in
dividual depends fundamentally on what
happens to groups of these cells.
Copper Slows Reproduction.
Drs. H w. Chalkley and Carl Voegt-
lin of the Public Health Service staff
| found that minute amounts of copper
| greatly decreased the rate of reproduc-
ton, or cell division, of the amoeba
colony. Further studies showed that
the division of the cell, or the splitting
OF one animal into two animals, appa-
rently does not depend directly on the
size OF the amoeba itself, but on the
size OF the nucleus of the single cell
which constitute its body.
First the cell itself increases in size.
Then 1t begins to shrink and the
nucleus begins to grow. When the nu-
cleus reaches a certain critical point in
| s1ze-in the case of these amoeba about
| Two hundred thouSandthS of a cubic
| milimeter-it divides and the whole cell
| divides with it. Both before and after
this critical stage of growth, division is
much less likely to take place, the two
experimenterS found
First they determined the rate of d.
vision IN a controlled salt solution.
Then they. added to this minute
amounts of the chemical substance.
glutathione, which had been shown by
previous experiments to increase greatly
the rate Of reproduction. Then they
used the copper solution ana compared
the three results.
! The effect of the glutathione, it was
| concluded, is in stimulating in some
way the rate at which the cell nucleus
can absorb nourishment from the sur
rounding cytoplasm which constitutes
the rest OF the animals body When
tne nucleus starts to grow the cyto-
| plasm starts to decrease in volume until
/ the split-up takes place The size of
tne nucleus appears to be a measure
! OF the physical maturity of the animal
The chemical works by speeding up
| this physical maturity at which the
cell will divide naturally.
Results Are Exact.
Minute amounts of copper in solution
| appear from the experiments to work
IN exactly the opposite way. The growth
OF the nucleus is inhibited. Thus ar
rival at physical maturity is greatly
delayed. Thus the rate of reproduction
is decreased. 1t was possible to de-
termine the results for large numbers
OF cells with considerable exactness
The increase OF the cytoplasm itself
could be inhibited by keeping the salt
solution chemically pure of any food
/ =
animal had to feed on itself as a starv-
ing man feeds on his own fat reserve
The nucleus feeds on the cytoplasm.
The effect of the copper on the
growth of the nucleus could be offset
later to some extent by exposing the
cell to minute amounts OF ghitathione.
which acted as an antidote to the COP
per poison. The two substances ap-
peared to be antagonistic to each other
Both are widely distributed through the
| animal kingdom and appear to be fun
damental reactorS in the chemical pro-
cesses of life.
The experiments showed that copper
| was effective in much smaller amounts
than was glutathione. The latter drug
was used in the proportion of one part
! in 100000 compared to the one part
in 500,000,000 which gave striking re-
suits with copper. The copper evident
| ly interferes in some way with the abil-
ity of the nucleus to digest food par
ticles from the cytoplasm.
Human Applications Important.
The mechanics Of cell division is of
special Importance in the study of the
| fundamental nature of cancer cells in
] the human body. One of their greatest
| abnormalities is the increased reproduce
ton rate. The splitting" faculty seems
to have gotten out of control
| The Public Health Services studies
with the amoeba cells seek to uncover
fundamental cell growth and division
reactions to different chemical environ
ments which will shed light on the be-
havior of cells in the human body. The
reactions of body cells are greatly COM
plicated because of their high speciali-
Zation and dependence on cells special
| iznd for other fIYNfiOnS Tho oYpnpha
is not specialized and acts as an indi-
| VII