Metabolism of Pure Cultures of Malignant Cells of Walker Rat Sarcoma

A large literature exists on the metabolism of spontaneous and transmissible tumors. At least one host factor complicates all of these studies, namely the mixture of host tissues with the tumor. Only microscopic portions of tumors growing in animals are free of connective tissue, wandering cells, or blood vessels contributed by the host. Any measurement of the metabolism of a tumor derived directly from an animal is a resultant of this mixture. It is impossible to determine accurately the metabolism of the tumor cells, even when corrections are made for the relative quantities of normal and malignant cells, since the presence of malignant cells in a host influences the metabolism of the normal cells (20). With tissues comprised wholly of tumor cells this complication can be avoided. Because of the recent advances in tissue culture methods, especially tumor cultivation (10, 14, lS), an approach to this problem has become feasible. The present report is concerned with the metabolism of pure cultures of malignant cells (tumor cells) of Walker rat sarcoma 319. The respiratory rates and the effects of gIucose on these, as well as the respiratory quotients and aerobic and anaerobic glycolytic rates, were studied. Comparisons were made between cultures of different ages and grown on different media.