Isolation of Tumor-Secreted Products from Human Carcinoma Cells Maintained in a Defined Protein-Free Medium

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1985-09, Vol.82 (17), p.5771-5775
• Main Authors: Alderman, Edward M., Lobb, Roy R., Fett, James W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3T3 cells; Animal cells; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Carcinoembryonic Antigen - metabolism; Carcinoma - metabolism; Carcinoma - pathology; Cell cultures. Hybridization. Fusion; Cell growth; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cells; Colonic Neoplasms - metabolism; Colonic Neoplasms - pathology; Culture Media; Cultured cells; Establishment of new cell lines, improvement of cultural methods, mass cultures; Eukaryotic cell cultures; Fibrosarcoma - metabolism; Fibrosarcoma - pathology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glutamine; Growth Substances - metabolism; HT29 cells; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - metabolism; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Molecular and cellular biology; Muramidase - metabolism; Proteins; Tumor cell line; Tumors; Ungulates
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.82.17.5771

A protein-free synthetic cell-growth medium has been defined that permits long-term survival (>120 days) of an established human colon tumor cell line, HT-29. Viability is dependent upon both the concentration of L-glutamine in the medium and the cell density at the time of initial transfer into it. Cell proliferation is minimal, thus obviating the necessity for subculturing. HT-29 adenocarcinoma cells maintained in large-scale culture with this medium continue to secrete the established colon tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen as well as growth factors and lysozyme. These and, potentially, other important tumor-derived products can therefore be generated continuously in such cultures so that they can be isolated from a conditioned medium free of contaminating serum and protein supplements.