INFLUENCE OF VITAMIN-E AND SELENIUM ON THE GROWTH AND PLASMA-MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY OF MOUSE FIBROBLASTS IN CULTURE

The present communication describes a tissue culture system which can be used to simulate conditions of vitamin E, selenium, and essential fatty acid deficiency, and in which the effect of adding these, and Other, substances can be studied. By restricting the lipid content of fetal calf serum, the effect of the addition of specific lipids on growth and on permeability to 2-deoxyglucose of the plasma membrane was determined. It was found that optimal growth and glucose transport depended on the presence together of vitamin E, linoleic acid, and cholesterol in the medium, and the significance of this finding is discussed in relation to current ideas about the biological action of vitamin E. By incorporating only 2.5% fetal calf serum in the growth medium, conditions of selenium deficiency could be demonstrated, and the addition of 0.1 nmol Se per dish stimulated growth whereas at higher levels of inclusion selenium was found to be toxic. © 1979.