[Stathmokinetic effect of cryoprotectors]

A study was made of the effect of cryoprotectors, both penetrating the cell (glycerin) and non-penetrating it (polyethylene oxide, m.w. 400), in different concentrations on the mitosis kinetics of short-lived cultures of human peripheral blood cells and continuous fibroblast-like cells of Chinese hamsters. Changes in the kinetics of the proliferation of the cultures under study, manifesting in a decrease of the mitotic index, accumulation of metaphases and an increase in the number of k-mitotic cells, depended on the concentration of the cryoprotectors. The stathmokinetic effect of the cryoprotectors was discovered to be related to the dehydrating properties shared by these substances, with the intensity of the effect being consequent on their penetrating ability.