Long-term culture of the ascites form of a mouse mammary tumor in serum-free media.

The authors successfully cultivated FM3A cell line in two kinds of serum free media, which was derived from a case of spontaneous mammary carcinoma converted in vivo into ascites form of C3H stock mice and was grown in a serum containing modified Eagle's medium for about seven months. Bovine plasma albumin, bactopeptone, sodium pyruvate and ferric chloride were effective as additives to the serum-free media and their optimum concentrations were 500, 1,500 and 110 mg/l medium, respectively. The animal transplantability of the cultured cells was examined, which were grown in the serum-free medium, and the inoculation of 105 cells or more per mouse induced tumor death but that of a less number of cells did not. The implanted cells in the peritoneal cavities of mice were recovered into the serum-free medium without a distinct lag period. The chromosomal distribution of the cells was investigated which were grown in the serum-free medium. The primary culture of the in vivo transplanted FM3A cells was successfully carried out without a distinct lag period.