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Use of serum-free media to minimize apoptosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells during in vitro culture

Leukemia volume 15, pages 1305–1307 (2001)Cite this article

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a hematologic malignancy that afflicts middle-aged and elderly individuals and is characterized by the accumulation of long-lived non-dividing CD5+ B cells in G0 of the cell cycle.1 Although B-CLL cells are long-lived in vivo, they undergo rapid and spontaneous apoptosis when cultured in vitro.2 B-CLL cells express the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2, which may promote their viability and resistance to apoptosis in vivo.3 Bcl-2 levels decrease during in vitro culture of B-CLL cells and bcl-2 levels are inversely correlated with the susceptibility of cultured B-CLL cells to undergo spontaneous apoptosis.4

The spontaneous apoptosis of B-CLL cells during in vitro culture provides both a challenge and opportunity to understand B-CLL cell biology. Understanding the factors that maintain B-CLL cell viability in vitro may identify factors necessary for B-CLL cell viability in vivo. Studies performed by Rosen and coworkers5 indicated increased viability of B-CLL cells during in vitro culture in Iscove's modification of Dulbecco's medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin, transferrin and 2-mercaptoethanol. This same group has also recently shown that the addition of thioredoxin to B-CLL culture media containing RPMI and 10% FBS improved B-CLL viability during in vitro culture.6 Unfortunately, the expense and lability of thioredoxin precludes its routine use in B-CLL culture media. We therefore tested the ability of several different media preparations to maintain B-CLL cell viability and bcl-2 levels during in vitro culture.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Joe Moore and Jon Gockerman for providing B-CLL patient samples. This work was supported by the Veterans Affairs Research Service and a grant from the American Cancer Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Duke University and Durham VA Medical Centers, Durham, NC, USA

    MC Levesque & CW O'Loughlin

  2. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Duke University and Durham VA Medical Centers, Durham, NC, USA

    JB Weinberg

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  1. MC Levesque
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  2. CW O'Loughlin
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  3. JB Weinberg
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Levesque, M., O'Loughlin, C. & Weinberg, J. Use of serum-free media to minimize apoptosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells during in vitro culture. Leukemia 15, 1305–1307 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402192

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