Induction of polyploidy in cultures of neonatal rat aortic smooth muscle cells

Arterial smooth muscle cells become tetraploid with age and hypertension. To further study this phenomenon, neonatal rat aortic smooth muscle cells were placed in cell culture and studied over time. Numerous cells with tetraploid and even octaploid DNA content appeared beginning in primary cultures. These increases in DNA content per cell were determined by quantitative fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, and true polyploidy was confirmed by chromosome counts. In contrast, cells from adult rat aortas failed to produce significant polyploid cells over time in culture. In vitro culture of neonatal aortic cells may therefore be a model system for studying the initiation of polyploidy in arterial smooth muscle.