Growth Response of HeLa Cells Cultured in a Medium of Varying Amino Acid Balances

Abstract

To investigate the growth response of HeLa cells for various amino acid balances, the cells were kept on monolayer culture in media in which levels of 12 kinds of amino acids were increased or decreased. The balance and level of amino acids for the maximum growth of the cells were closely resembled to those of Eagle’s minimum essential medium (MEM). Within lower levels of amino acids than those of MEM, the growth rate of the cells depended on the concentration of the most limiting amino acid in the medium, and on the concentration of the most limiting amino acid in the cells. Like whole animals, the amino acid pattern for the maximum growth under definite nitrogen levels also differed between low and optimum levels of amino acids. Neither antagonistic nor cooperative relationship between amino acids such as leucine-isoleucine or lysine-arginine antagonism was observed on the cell growth within these experimental conditions of amino acid balances. Unlike whole animals, addition of an amino acid excessively...