Culture of a differentiated liver cell line, Hep G2, in serum with application to a bioartificial liver: effect of supplementation of serum with amino acids.

Much effort has been directed toward the development of serum-free, hormonally defined culture conditions for the maintenance of differentiated functions in many cell types, including hepatocytes. However, in the development of a hepatocyte bioreactor for artificial liver support, many designs propose the maintenance of cells in plasma as opposed to defined culture medium. There is very little reported literature on the growth and function of cells cultured in plasma or serum; therefore, the effect of increasing serum concentrations was investigated using the human hepatoma, Hep G2, as a model cell line. It was found that Hep G2 can survive and grow in 100% serum if the serum is supplemented with L-glutamic acid, glycine, and L-cysteine.