Preparation and use of lipid microemulsions as nutritional supplements for culturing mammalian cells.

Cells grown in vitro generally have a requirement for an exogenous source of lipid. This requirement is often met by the addition of serum, lipoproteins, or lipids complexed to albumin. To overcome the disadvantages of using lipoproteins or albumin for culturing cells in serum-free media, a method has been devised to provide necessary lipids. This report describes the preparation and use of protein-free lipid microemulsions suitable for use in tissue culture. The microemulsions are prepared from purified, synthetic lipids to produce a homogeneous, water-soluble, stable suspension that can be sterile-filtered. The best results were obtained using a sonicate of cholesterol oleate, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, dilinoleoyl phosphatidylcholine, dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol, cholesterol, sphingomyelin, alpha-tocopherol, alpha-tocopherol acetate, and Tween 80. Using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in a protein-free medium, cell growth was 222% vs. control (no microemulsion) in a 5-d assay. Inclusion of the microemulsion to protein-free media also increased the growth rate of murine hybridomas, H9 transformed T lymphoblasts, and human skin keratinocytes.

A protein-free medium for the growth of hybridomas and other cells of the immune system.

A protein-free medium, termed ABC, has been developed which essentially eliminates the need for serum proteins. ABC supports the long-term growth of murine hybridomas as well as other transformed cells of the immune system. The requirement of hybridoma growth for transferrin has been met by substituting the soluble organo-iron compound, sodium nitroprusside. Substantial improvement in the growth of hybridomas was afforded by the inclusion of 18 trace elements complexed to disodium ethylene diaminetetraacetate (EDTA). The medium was further improved by the inclusion of components not found in Ham's F12 medium or by raising the concentrations of existing low molecular weight components. Murine hybridomas can be cultured routinely in this protein-free medium in an anchorage-independent manner with doubling times generally under 24 h. Visualized on electrophoretic gels, levels of monoclonal antibody taken from those cultures often exceeded 80% of the total protein. The medium was also able to support the growth of HuT 78 and H9 cells as well as certain other transformed cells of the immune system. In addition, normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes, activated with phytohemagglutinin and cultured with 50 U/ml recombinant interleukin 2, could be grown for 2 wk with a 50-fold expansion over input cell number.

Induction of glucagon sensitivity in a transformed kidney cell line by prostaglandin E2 and its inhibition by epidermal growth factor.

A model system using a transformed dog kidney cell line (Madin-Darby canine kidney), has been established for studying the process of differentiation. Glucagon responsiveness can be restored to these transformed cells by various differentiation inducers, including prostaglandin E2. Glucagon response was measured in terms of the ability of glucagon to stimulate cAMP production. Induction of glucagon sensitivity seems to be mediated by cAMP. The ability of various prostaglandin analogs to elevate the cAMP level correlates closely with their ability to induce glucagon sensitivity. In fact, 8-Br-cAMP is also a potent inducer. To define the nature of this cAMP-mediated process, we identified several inhibitors of this induction process. These differentiation inhibitors include serum, phorbol ester, and epidermal growth factor. These inhibitors do not have a direct effect on cAMP production by cells in the presence or absence of hormones. Furthermore, induction by 8-Br-cAMP is also inhibited by these agents. Therefore, the site of inhibition is located beyond the point of cAMP production. Possible interaction between cAMP- and epidermal growth factor-dependent phosphorylations is discussed.

Revertants of Ha-MuSV-transformed MDCK cells express reduced levels of p21 and possess a more normal phenotype.

Four subclones of the originally cloned Harvey murine sarcoma virus-transformed Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells have been isolated. These subclones fall into two general classes. Two subclones have a fibroblastic morphology, have lost the growth requirement for prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), do not respond to glucagon or vasopressin, and, in general, appear transformed. Two other subclones have epithelioid morphologies, are growth-stimulated by PGE1, respond to vasopressin with an increase in intracellular cAMP. We propose that these cells represent revertants to a more non-transformed phenotype. Unlike normal cells, however, these revertants grow under anchorage-independent conditions, express detectable but reduced amounts of the transforming gene product, p21, and grow in nude mice. The appearance of such revertants may be one cause of the observed heterogeneity of tumor cells.

Serum-stimulated cyclic-AMP production in S49 lymphoma cells grown in serum-free medium.

Growth of S49 lymphoma cells with horse serum leads to an increase in cellular cAMP phosphodiesterase activity and a resultant loss of hormone- and cholera-toxin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. We now show that the serum requires protein synthesis to produce these effects. Further, we show that acute addition of serum to wild-type S49 cells, grown in serum-free medium, rapidly (under 2 min) and transiently (under 30 min) stimulates cellular cAMP, 10-fold over basal levels. This 'acute' effect of serum was not observed in UNC S49 cells, suggesting that a functional Ns, the guanine nucleotide regulatory component that mediates stimulation of adenylate cyclase, is required for the serum-mediated stimulation of cellular cAMP. Serum added acutely to wild-type S49 cells also augmented cAMP accumulation in response to isoproterenol and forskolin. The half-maximally effective concentrations of horse serum that acutely stimulated or more slowly decreased the cAMP accumulation were approx. 0.2% and 2.0%, respectively. Preliminary attempts to characterize further the serum factor indicate that it has a high (250 000-300 000) molecular weight and is insensitive to boiling; chromatography on Sepharose CL-6B yields a 100-fold purification. Thus, the serum contains one or more components that activate adenylate cyclase, increase cellular cAMP levels and ultimately induce cAMP phosphodiesterase in S49 lymphoma cells.

Clonal growth of lymphoid cells in serum-free media requires elimination of H2O2 toxicity.

We have recently described the development of a serum-free medium that contains casein, insulin, testosterone, transferrin, and linoleic acid and that supports the long-term growth of a wide variety of lymphoid cells. A problem of culturing cells in this medium is the difficulty of cloning cells or growing cells at low density. We now describe the formulation of a chemically defined medium that supports the clonal growth of the murine S49 T lymphoma cell line. This medium contains catalase, insulin, transferrin, testosterone, Na2SeO3, and dilinoleoyl phosphatidylcholine and contains less than 50 micrograms/ml total protein. The two novel additions in this medium are catalase, which replaces casein and dilinoleoyl phosphatidylcholine, which substitutes for linoleic acid in this defined medium. In addition to S49 cells, the medium described above supports the long-term growth of other lymphoid cells, including human and murine hybridomas. We propose that catalase functions to degrade H2O2 that is present in the cultures and that casein, bovine serum albumin, and other proteins commonly included in media for cultured cells may also scavenge H2O2. Na2SeO3 also partially protects against the death of cells at clonal density and this protection may, like catalase, be due to removal of H2O2. Our results suggest that H2O2 is an important cytotoxic agent that prevents growth of lymphoid cells during culture in serum-free media and perhaps in serum-containing media as well.

Growth of T-lymphoma cells in serum-free medium: lack of involvement of the cyclic AMP pathway in long-term cultures.

We have developed a serum-free, chemically defined growth medium containing casein, insulin, transferrin, testosterone, and linoleic acid in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's F12 medium, 1:1 (vol/vol), for growing murine T lymphomas. This medium supports the growth in suspension of all murine T lymphomas tested, including S49, WEHI 7, EL4, BW5147, and R1.1. Growth of these cell lines was maintained indefinitely with doubling times approaching those of cells grown in 10% (vol/vol) horse serum. This medium also supports the growth of several of the S49 variants of the beta-adrenergic receptor/adenylate cyclase/cyclic AMP/protein kinase pathway, suggeting little or no involvement of this pathway in the routine growth of S49 cells or in the mechanism of action of the factors in this defined medium. This serum-free medium should prove useful for studies of a variety of metabolic pathways and of differentiated functions of T-lymphoma cells.