Cell survival in V79 multicell spheroids treated with dehydroascorbate, 5-thio-D-glucose and 2-deoxy-D-glucose.

We found that dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), 5-thio-D-glucose (5TG) and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) were toxic to monolayers of V79 cells under hypoxic conditions at 37 degree C but not at 0 degree C. Very little toxicity was observed at either temperature under aerobic conditions. When spheroids (600 micrometer diameter) were treated with 7.5 mM of these chemicals for periods up to 3 days, the number of viable cells per spheroid dropped to 70% for DHA, 50% for 5TG and 25% for 2DG relative to controls. These survivals were reduced to much lower values when the experiments were repeated in glucose-free medium.