The effect of prolonged stress-inducing electrical stimulation on cell proliferation in rat palatal epithelium

This study examines whether blocking of cell division by stress-inducing electrical stimulation can be maintained for a prolonged period of time and whether this results in the accumulation of a large number of cells ready to divide when the block is released. A total of 96 rats was subjected to electrical stimulation at intervals of 30 min for periods of 2, 4, 6 or 12 hr. Groups of animals were killed every second hour during these stimulation periods. After 2, 4 and 6 hr groups of animals were exempted from further stimulation and killed 2 or 4 hr later. After termination of the 12 hr stimulation period, groups of animals were killed every second hour during the succeeding 24 hr. Forty-eight animals were left undisturbed and served as controls. Two and a half hours prior to death, each of the experimental and control animals was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with colchicine. Histological sections of the palatal mucosa were prepared and the numbers of arrested metaphases were counted. The electrical stimulation for 2, 4, 6 and 12 hr consistently resulted in a reduced number of cells entering mitosis, indicating a blockade at the G2/M transition. However, with an increase in the length of electrical stimulation, an increasing number of cells passed the block, while a decreasing number entered mitosis during the first 4 hr following cessation of the stimulation. The sum of metaphases accumulated during the various stress periods and the following 4 hr was always similar and consistently lower than the number of metaphases accumulated in the control animals within the same time periods. This observation indicates that, during stress-inducing electrical stimulation and the succeeding 4 hr, only a defined number of cells can enter the mitotic phase. Thus, in addition to the block at the G2/M transition, there appears to be another block of cell division at an earlier stage in the cell cycle.