RECOMBINANT HUMAN ALBUMIN IN CELL-CULTURE - EVALUATION OF GROWTH-PROMOTING POTENTIAL FOR NRK AND SCC-9 CELLS IN-VITRO

Serum-derived albumin has for a long time been used in cell culture me dia, but the exact role of albumin and/or impurities bound to albumin has not been precisely defined. In this study, recombinant human album in was evaluated for its growth-promoting activity on two cell lines, NRK and SCC-9. For NRK cells, the recombinant human albumin was found to exert an inhibitory effect. The fact that fatty acid free HSA was a lso inhibitory while HSA fraction V was stimulatory suggested a role f or fatty acids or some other bound moieties in growth stimulation by H SA fraction V. Addition of oleic acid, cholesterol, phosphatidylcholin e, phosphatidylserine or a combination of these lipids, however, did n ot significantly improve the growth stimulating activity of either fat ty acid free HSA or the recombinant human albumin. For SCC-9 cells, bo th recombinant human albumin and fatty acid free HSA showed slight sti mulation (although they were not as active as HSA fraction V), suggest ing that in some cell systems, the albumin molecule per se may promote cell growth and survival.