The Growth Requirements of Vertebrate Cells in Vitro

The study of cells in culture has revealed many basic cellular properties, but the use of this system is severely limited by the fact that established cell lines do not retain the characteristics of their progenitor cells. They differ morphologically, biochemically, and in genetic complement, almost always containing an increased number of chromosomes. That these abnormal cells have a selective growth advantage in culture indicates that we do not yet understand the environmental conditions required for normal cell function. This realization, along with the increased use of cultured cells in genetic studies during the early 1970s, created a flurry of activity in the field with a corresponding glut of reviews. But since then no completely satisfactory review has been released. This monograph is based on two symposia of the same title, which were supported in part by the Bureau of Biologics and The Food and Drug Administration. It provides an excellent, current review of the requirements for vertebrate cell proliferation in culture. It is clearly the intent of the editors to present a comprehensive review. This is particularly apparent in Richard G. Ham's insightful and masterfully organized introduction discussing the justification for and aims of the current studies. This introduction creates a certain unity among the thirty-five otherwise autonomous chapters. The subjects covered range in scope from Jack Aronowitz's entertaining anecdotal discussion of purity to Norman Dulak's presentation of somatomedin-like multiplication-stimulating factors in chicken embryo fibroblasts. Some of the topics which are poorly handled include the effect of platelets on the establishment of primary cultures, the description of exogenous peptides that promote cell growth, and trace element requirements in defined media. Two well-written, extensively referenced, and potentially very useful chapters are devoted to comparisons between the various defined media that have been developed during the past twenty-five years. Two other chapters with practical significance discuss the role of electrolytes, dissolved gases, buffers, and pH changes on cell growth properties. There are also some very good data-presenting chapters; two of these deal with the growth-promoting agent bacto-peptone dialysate, and three others cover the relationship between lipid metabolism and cell growth control. It is important to point out that the theme of this monograph is not unique. Since L.E. Baker's early work on the in vitro growth requirements of human fibroblasts in the mid 1 930s, many reviews have been published. Some of these approach or exceed this volume in depth, breadth, and applicability. But this review has a distinct advantage in that it is almost eight years more recent than any other review of quality,