The silk protein, sericin, protects against cell death caused by acute serum deprivation in insect cell culture.
Sericin is the silk protein that covers fibroin fibers and functions as a 'glue' in the cocoons of silkworms, and its most abundant component, Ser1, contains repeats of Ser- and Thr-rich 38 amino acid residues. The viability of Sf9 insect cells was 20, 57 and 49% on the fifth day and 41, 91 and 70% on the ninth day after serum deprivation in the presence of no additives, 3000 microg sericin hydrolysate and 350 microg SerD (the peptide containing the two repetitive units) ml(-1), respectively. Thus, the sericin samples were useful in preventing cell death and promoting cellular growth after acute serum deprivation.
Takahashi
Masakazu
M
Department of Bioscience, Faculty of Biotechnology, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Kenjojima, Matsuoka-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-1195, Japan. mastak@fpu.ac.jp
Tsujimoto
Kazuhisa
K
Yamada
Hideyuki
H
Takagi
Hiroshi
H
Nakamori
Shigeru
S
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D012831:Bombyx / Q000737:chemistry; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D047030:Sericins; D044967:Serum / Q000378:metabolism*; D047011:Silk; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D019476:Insect Proteins; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D047030:Sericins; D047011:Silk