This study was done to learn whether tap water and the commercially sold water in plastic bottles were cytotoxic for human cells in culture. Powder of Eagle's minimum essential medium was dissolved in various types of water and supplemented with non-essential amino acids and 10% fetal bovine serum. Using these test media, colony formation ability of cells and their proliferation were examined. Two human liver cell lines (HLE and OUMS-29) and a normal human fibroblast cell line (OUMS-36) were used for the present experiments. As a result, the water samples examined were not cytotoxic as the control medium which was made with the Milli-Q water prepared with the ion exchange column. These facts indicated that some types of human cells can be grown in culture with MEM prepared with the tap water.
DNase I affinity chromatography has been known to be a useful tool for analysis of G-actin binding proteins in various kinds of nonmuscle cells. Here we coupled DNase I to an agarose gel in the presence of PMSF, as DNase I fractions purified from bovine pancrease contain serine-threonine type protease activities. By the use of the DNase I affinity column obtained, a 68 kD component was purified from the soluble cytoplasmic protein fraction of bovine liver and identified as a membrane-to-actin cytoskeleton linker, annexin VI.