A SERUM-FREE MEDIUM THAT PRESERVES NORMAL MORPHOLOGY AND A HIGH-LEVELOF PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS IN HEPATOCYTES

In a culture of rat hepatocytes, kept in a serum-free medium 199, the number of attached cells was decreased and a monolayer was not formed within 24 h. Soon after the cells were attached to collagen, the inten sity of protein synthesis in the serum-free medium was decreased due t o the smaller number of cells in the culture and was calculated per ce ll. The properties of cultures, i.e., the number and shape of cells, e xternal appearance of the culture, and intensity of protein synthesis, were similar in a serum-containing medium and in the serum-free mediu m 199 complemented with 0.2 mg/ml albumin and 5 mu g/ml insulin. A mon olayer typical for the medium with serum was formed in the medium with albumin and insulin within approximately 20 h after attachment of the hepatocytes to the substrate.