title: Survival of 3T3 cells expressing or co-expressing bFGF and/or IGF-I and/or IGF-II in low serum and serum free media.
abstract: The aim of this study was to improve the survival ofNIH3T3 cells in low serum or serum-free media by theendogenous expression of recombinant bFGF (basicfibroblast growth factor) and/or IGF (insulin-likegrowth factor) -I and II. Expression was detected byWestern blotting, and the growth characteristics ofdifferent transfected cell lines investigated in bothserum-free and low serum conditions and also in softagar. Morphological changes and the growth rate werecompared with growth in normal serum-containingmedium. The experimental data suggested that theexpression of either bFGF alone, or the co-expressionof bFGF and either IGF-I or II could improve thesurvival of NIH3T3 cells in low serum or serum-freemedia. The use of such lines could decrease the use ofserum in cell culture and thus both reduce the costsinvolved in this technique and simplify thedown-stream purification procedure in protein harvest.Hence, such lines may be of value in both experimentaland industrial applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Paisley, Paisley, PA1 2BE, U.K..
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hettle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macdonald