Primary monolayer cultures of adult rat liver parenchymal cells suitable for study of the regulation of enzyme synthesis

Summary Parenchymal cells from adult rat liver which had been fully regenerated were isolated and cultured in nonproliferating monolayers in vitro. The optimum conditions for attachment of these cells to Falcon plastic dishes were determined. When approximately 1.0×10⁵ nuclei per cm² suspended in Ham's F-12 medium with 0.5 μg of insulin per ml and 25% fetal calf serum were incubated at 37°C for 24 hr, about 50% became attached and contiguous. When the above medium was supplemented with synthetic buffers 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid (MES) andN-tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (TES), the presence of 15% fetal calf serum also allowed an attachement effiency of 50%. Tyrosine aminotrasferase activity in the cells was elevated when the culture medium was supplemented with hydrocortisone or dexamethasone. The largest increases were observed after 72 hr of culture. Cycloheximide prevented the increase. Presented in part at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Tissue Culture Association, Boston, Mass. June 4 to 7, 1973. The work was supported in part by National Cancer Institute Grants CA-51304-01 (R. J. B.) and CA-07175. P. R. W. was a Damon Runyon Memorial Fund Postdoctoral Fellow.