Indispensability of Iron for the Growth of Cultured Chick Cells: (iron/transition metal/transferrin/chick embryonic cell/myogenesis).

Abstract

In order to clarify the role of iron in the growth promoting effect of transferrin (Tf), the effects of the following substances were examined in cultured chick skeletal myogenic cells: transition metal ions (Fe2+ , Fe3+ , Cr3+ , Cu2+ , Mn2+ , Co2+ , Cd2+ , Zn2+ and Ni2+ ), Tf complexes with these metals and metal-free apoTf. The cells did not grow well when incubated in a culture medium composed of Eagle's minimum essential medium and horse serum. But they grew well in the presence of Fe2+ or Fe3+ (10-100 μM) or iron-bound Tf (10-500 nM) in the medium. None of the transition metal ions other than iron was effective. Neither apoTf nor Tf complexes with these metals showed the growth promoting effect. The generality of the requirement of iron for cell growth was ascertained in the primary culture of other types of chick embryonic cells: fibroblasts, cardiac myocytes, retinal pigment cells and spinal nerve cells. The results show that iron is one of the indispensable substances for cell growth and suggest that Tf protein plays a role in facilitating the transport of iron into the cells.