Diurnal variation in epithelial cell population kinetics of young mouse tongue

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a diurnal variation in the DNA synthesis pattern of epithelial basal cells in the dorsum of the mouse tongue between infancy and preadult ages. The pattern of DNA synthesis in the basal cells of mouse tongue in 24-hour periods for different age groups was studied by isotope labeling and radioautography. A strong diurnal variation was found in the pattern of DNA synthesis with the degree of variation dependent on the age of the experimental groups.