Abstract
Summary
A simple medium system was developed to obtain growth of BHK-21 cells in shaker cultures in the absence of serum. These cells have now undergone over 80 serial passages in serum-free Way-mouth medium and have been recovered from the frozen state after storage for over 1 month in medium containing 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA).
Various amounts of exogenous lipid in the form of sodium oleate were added to cultures of cells growing in serum-free Way-mouth medium. Concentrations of 10–50 μg of sodium oleate/ml had no detrimental effects on the cells as measured by trypan blue uptake. Furthermore, the cells were serially passed ten times in the presence of 10 μg sodium oleate/ml. Depletion of calf serum from the growth medium and addition of known quantities of lipids to the system provides a means of revealing subtle changes in lipid synthesis and lipid turnover during cellular growth.
The technical assistance of K. Crilly is gratefully acknowledged.
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