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. 1976 Nov;73(11):4110–4114. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.11.4110

Growth of human diploid fibroblasts in the absence of glucose utilization.

H R Zielke, P T Ozand, J T Tildon, D A Sevdalian, M Cornblath
PMCID: PMC431346  PMID: 1069299

Abstract

Normal human diploid fibroblasts were able to undergo one to two cell divisions without glucose utilization in Eagle's minimum essential medium plus 10% dialyzed fetal calf serum if the medium was supplemented with hypoxanthine, thymidine, and uridine (supplemented medium termed HTU-MEM). Under these conditions, the added purine and pyrimidines were required for nucleic acid synthesis, as shown by the inability of Lesch-Nyhan fibroblasts to grow in HTU-MEM. Normal human diploid fibroblasts continued to produce lactate in HTU-MEM, but at a greatly reduced rate. Since cells grew in HTU-MEM without glucose utilization, the probable energy and carbon source was glutamine, which is present in relatively high concentration. Furthermore, the rate of glutamine utilization per cell division was 2-fold greater in HTU-MEM than in medium with 5.5 mM glucose. These results suggest that glutamine can be a major energy source for cells grown in vitro.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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