Relationship between in vivo age and in vitro aging: assessment of 669 cell cultures derived from members of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

We examined the in vitro proliferative potential of 669 cell cultures established from skin biopsies of members of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. The colony size distribution was used to estimate the proliferative life span of the cultures. A significant decline in proliferative potential with donor age was observed for female but not male donors. For both male and female donors, the proliferative potential was significantly greater for donors under the age of 30 years compared with all donors over the age of 30 years. In an attempt to reduce genetic heterogeneity, we examined the proliferative potential of cultures derived at different ages from the same donor. These studies revealed a trend (approaching statistical significance) toward low proliferative potential as donors aged. Interestingly, samples obtained from donors who had a history of skin cancer at the time of biopsy had a significantly lower doubling potential than those from donors who did not. The implications of these results for the use of cells derived from donors of different ages for aging research are discussed.