694 DYNAMIC ASPECTS — AMINO ACID POOL TURNOVER 
AMINO ACID POOLS, PROTEIN SYNTHESIS AND PROTEIN 
TURNOVER IN HUMAN*CEEL-CULTURES* 
HARRY EAGLE** anp KARL A. PIEZ 
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, 
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. (U.S.A.) 
Although the amino acid metabolism of cultured human cells presents many points 
of similarity to the systems which have already been discussed at this Symposium, 
there are also important points of difference which deserve further exploration. 
These cells may be grown either as a “monolayer” adherent to a glass surface, 
or in suspension cultures operationally similarly to cultures of bacteria in liquid 
media. We have found no difference in the amino acid metabolism of cells grown 
TABLE I 
A BASAL MEDIUM INCORPORATING THE MINIMUM GROWTH REQUIREMENTS 
OF CULTURED MAMMALIAN CELLS (FROM EAGLE*) 
Optional supplementation is as follows: (i) ‘non-essential’? amino acids (alanine, asparagine, 
aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, proline, serine), each at 0.1 mW; (ii) sodium pyruvate 
(1 mM). Of these, asparagine, serine, glycine, and pyruvate have proved necessary for the growth 
of certain cell lines, in a dialyzed serum medium, and serine is similarly required for the growth 
of single cells. 




Concentration Concentration 
Compound ~ == a Compound — ——— = 
(mM ) (mg/L) (mM ) (mg/l) 
L-Amino Acids Salts 
Arginine 0.6 105 NaCl 116 6800 
Cystine o.1 24 KCl 5.4 400 
Glutamine 2.0 292 CaCl, 1.8 (0) f 200 (0) f 
Histidine 0.2 31 MgCl, - 6H,O 1.0 200 
Isoleucine 0.4 52 NaH,PO, : 2H,O Tes a (UI) 150 (1500) f 
Leucine 0.4 52 NaHCO, 23.8 2000 
Lysine 0.4 58 Vitamins 
Methionine O.1 15 Choline I 
Phenylalanine 0.2 2 Folic acid I 
Threonine 0.4 48 Inositol 2 
Tryptophane 0.05 10 Nicotinamide I 
Tyrosine 0.2 30 Pantothenate I 
Valine 0.4 40 Pyridoxal I 
Carbohydrate Riboflavin O.1 
Glucose 5.5 1000 Thiamine I 
Serum Protein 
Whole or dialyzed 
serum, 5-10% 
+ In suspension culture. 
* The present paper describes the results from a single laboratory. No attempt has been made 
to review the literature in detail, or to document the results obtained in other systems. 
** Present address: Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New 
Mork, N.Y. (U.S.A.). 
References p. 705 
