Growth inhibition of mouse lymphoma cells, L5178Y, in vitro, by glucocorticoids : Alterations in choline metabolism

The effects of prednisolone and other glucocorticoids were studied in a cell culture system of L5178Y mouse lymphoma. A relatively high level of 8 × 10⁻⁶ M prednisolone was required to reduce growth by 50%. The response was due to an increase in generation time and was not a result of the cytolytic effects of the steroid. A synchronous cell population was obtained by successive treatment with excess thymidine and Colcemid. Using this technic it was determined that an exposure to prednisolone for a time longer than a complete cell cycle was required in order to bring about inhibition of cell multiplication. In the course of experiments involving brief exposure to prednisolone, it was determined that prednisolone when added to synchronized cells inhibited incorporation of ¹⁴C-choline into the lipid cell fraction. The inhibition of choline incorporation in cells selected for increased resistance to prednisolone was about half that observed in steroid-sensitive cells.