Prolonged incubation of NIH 3T3 cells under the growth constraint of confluence results in a persistent impairment of proliferation when the cells are subcultured at low density and a greatly increased probability of neoplastic transformation in assays for transformation. These proper- ties, along with the large accumulation of age pigment bodies in the confluent cells, are cardinal cellular characteristics of aging in organisms and validate the system as a model of cellular aging.
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