Suppression of DNA synthesis in normal, but not neoplastic, nuclei by cytoplasmic extracts from resting cells

We have previously shown that a heat-stable protein in cytoplasmic extracts from human quiescent peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) is capable of inhibiting the induction of DNA synthesis in isolated resting nuclei. We now report that these cytoplasmic extracts are also capable of suppressing DNA synthetic activity in replicative nuclei isolated from mitogen-activated PBL. PBL extracts had little or no inhibitory effect, however, on replicative nuclei derived from several transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines. These results suggest that the growth of normal lymphocytes may be negatively controlled by cytoplasmic inhibitory factors. Furthermore, the relative resistance of tumor cell nuclei to these inhibitory signals provides a possible explanation for the loss of growth control in neoplastic cells.