Abstract
Summary
The effect of various partially hydrolyzed caseins (PHC) on the growth of human skin diploid (prepuce) cells cultivated in vitro has been investigated. The results indicate that PHC I (amino N/total N ratio of 0.09) contains growth-stimulating activity for prepuce cells in the absence and presence of serum. This activity of PHC I was abolished when casein was further hydrolyzed with trypsin (amino N/total N ratio of 0.36 or 0.70). It is suggested that the growth-stimulating activity of casein is attributed to the casein itself or the presence of optimal amounts of amino acids and/or polypeptide fractions. Human kidney (SWINK), swine testis (ST-92) and rabbit epidermal cells (SflEp) showed little or no growth stimulation in any of the concentrations of PHC I tested. A cell culture system to assay PHC I activity is now available which could eventually short-circuit the routine use of animal assays to test burn or other wound healing cell activity. PHC I appears to substitute for serum in growth of prepuce cells in vitro so that another serum-free medium is now available for certain types of experiments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.