Effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on [3H]TdR incorporation into DNA in ad lib fed and fasted CD2F1 mice

The effect of EGF on the incorporation of [3H]TdR into DNA (DNA synthesis) was determined in the esophagus, liver, pancreas, and kidney in mice standardized to 12 hours (hr) of light alternating with 12 hr of darkness. A question asked was whether intraperitoneally administered EGF could alter the circadian patterns of DNA synthesis in these organs. The most marked effects of EGF were: an increase in DNA synthesis but only after a specific duration of time after treatment, ranging from 8 to 23 hr, which differed for each tissue, a similarity in the response of the esophagus in both ad lib fed and fasted mice, but not in the response of the liver, where the stimulatory effect of EGF observed in fed mice was dramatically reduced in fasted ones, and an advance in the phasing of the circadian rhythm in DNA synthesis of the esophagus by about 12 hr. In addition, no sex differences in fasted animals were found under the conditions of this study.