Synchronization of some human cell strains by serum and calcium starvation.

A technique was investigated for producing parasynchronous growth of some established, aneuploid human cell strains. Removal of both serum and calcium from exponentially growing monolayer cells tended to inhibit their growth. After 20 hr, a high percentage of the cell population was arrested in or near mitosis. Readdition of serum and calcium caused parasynchronous growth of the cells of three human strains studied. All three strains incorporated tritiated thymidine maximally 10 to 15 hr after serum and calcium were added, and cell numbers increased rapidly 17 to 25 hr after the growth medium was reconstituted. Population-doubling ranged from 80% to 100% of the theoretical. The yield of parasynchronous cells is high with this technique and may produce a significant amount of nontemporally distorted biological material upon which direct biochemical analysis can be performed at various times within the generation cycle.