Growth study of lactate and ammonia double-resistant clones of HL-60 cells.

The possibility that lactate and ammonia accumulation may have less detrimental effect on cell growth than usually admitted is investigated. We report here the isolation of several HL-60 subclones able to proliferate in the presence of 60 mM sodium lactate and 4 mM ammonium chloride, concentrations usually considered to be toxic for cell proliferation. Growth kinetics and final cell densities of these clones in suspension cultures were similar to the HL-60 cell population in control medium as well as in medium containing ammonia and lactate in which control cells were unable to grow. The metabolic pattern of the double-resistant clones revealed that lactate and ammonia formation was inhibited in the presence of lactate and ammonia in the medium, while alanine production and arginine consumption were enhanced irrespective of the medium.