PREPARATION OF CULTURED-CELLS FOR MICROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION OF RESPONSES TO PHARMACOLOGICAL AGENTS

In culture, it is possible to study the response of single cells to pharmacological stimuli within a defined environment. The cell culture environment may be stressful, and optimal growth conditions and standardisation are needed to obtain reproducible responses. A comparison was made using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscope X-ray microanalysis (SEM XRMA) of the growth, morphology, and elemental content of chondrocytes seeded onto glass coverslips, plastic coverslips, Falcon cell culture inserts, Costar Transwells, formvar-coated gold and nylon grids, and Nuclepore filters. Cells grew to confluence and had good morphology on glass coverslips, Falcon cell culture inserts, Costar Transwells, and formvar-coated gold grids, and grew slowly and had poor morphology on plastic coverslips, nylon grids, and Nuclepore filters. Costar Transwells were best for cell study by TEM and SEM, and cells grown on Transwells possessed a ''normal'' elemental content of Na, P, S, Cl and K. The stability of elemental content and morphology during growth of the cells between 5 and 96 hours, and sensitivity of the system in detecting cell perturbation show the potential of the model for the development of pharmaceutical assays.