THE SUSTAINED GROWTH OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL CELLS IN A PROTEIN-FREE ENVIRONMENT

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Abstract
Human (HeLa, HeLa-S3, KB) and mouse (L-929) cells could be regularly grown in suspension culture in a protein-free and chemically defined basal medium, if the culture was equilibrated across a cellophane membrane with medium containing 1-5% dialyzed serum and a dialyzed pancreatic extract ("Viokase"). Only occasional and relatively slow growth was obtained when the enzyme preparation was omitted from the "feeder" compartment containing protein. It is suggested that the primary role of serum protein in suspension cultures of mammalian cells is to provide essential growth factor(s) of small molecular weight, either initially bound to the serum protein, or formed from it on proteolysis.