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. 2000 Mar;32(3):209–218. doi: 10.1023/A:1008151302358

Survival of 3T3 cells expressing or co-expressing bFGF and/or IGF-I and/or IGF-II in low serum and serum free media

Dajiang Li 1, Simon Hettle 3,✉, John McLean 4, Caroline MacDonald 4
PMCID: PMC3449889  PMID: 19002982

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.

Keywords: 3T3 cells, bFGF, IGF-I, IGF-II, serum-free media

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