Differences in metabolite levels upon differentiation of intact neuroblastoma X glioma cells observed by proton NMR spectroscopy.

Proton NMR spectroscopy was used to study the effect of differentiation with prostaglandin E1 and theophylline on intact hybrid neuroblastoma X glioma cells. The standard proton NMR method showed more resolvable signals than the spin echo NMR spectra. The differentiated cells were found to contain significantly higher levels of glutamine than the undifferentiated precursors. Observations on cell extracts confirmed these results.