Secretion of apolipoprotein B in serum-free cultures of human hepatoma cell line, HepG2.

We have developed a defined medium which can maintain efficient growth of HepG2 cells sustaining the synthesis of a variety of plasma proteins including apolipoprotein B. This defined system was used to investigate long-term effects of insulin, estrogen, triiodothyronine, cholesterol, and oleate on the growth pattern of HepG2 cells and secretion rate of apolipoprotein B. Oleate and triiodothyronine caused significant increases in secretion of apolipoprotein B. The stimulatory effect of triiodothyronine was only observed after long (6 days) exposure of cells to the hormone. In contrast, insulin caused up to a 4-fold decrease in the secretion rate of apolipoprotein B during the early growth periods. This inhibitory effect appeared to be partially abolished after 6 days. Our data suggest that some important questions on regulation of apolipoprotein B expression can be addressed by the long-term culture of HepG2 cells in defined medium.