Use of a perfusion technique for measurements of respiratory activity in cultured cells.

A method for measuring respiratory activity in anchorage-dependent cultured cells has been developed. This method is based on a technique that permits the perfusion of standard plastic culture dishes with attached cells. Basal respiratory activities were studied in two continuous cell lines of neural origin, neuroblastoma C1300 clone 41A3 and glioma 138MG. As compared to traditional measurements on detached cells, a fourfold increase in value was obtained. Investigations on membrane permeability suggested that the observed difference could be attributed to alterations in cell membrane integrity. Pretreatment with dibutyryl cyclic AMP, known to induce a morphological and biochemical differentiation in C1300 and 138MG cells, caused in both cell lines an enhanced respiration.