The partitioning behavior of K-562 cells associated with different stages of culture growth.

Partitioning behavior of cells in dextran-poly(ethylene glycol) aqueous phase systems is a sensitive reflection of the cells' surface properties. A decrease in partition ratio, in charge-sensitive phases, of a variety of cell lines as a function of culture growth has been reported by a number of investigators. The basis for this phenomenon remains unclear. We have now studied the surface properties of K-562 cells (a human cell line originally derived from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis) during suspension culture growth by countercurrent distribution. The mean partition ratio of viable cells remained constant during 220 h of culture (i.e., well into stationary phase). The decrease in mean partition ratio of the cell population as a whole during culture, previously observed and reported by others, is attributed to the lower partition ratio of non-viable cells which increase with time of culture.