Comparison of heat flux in wild-type and genetically-engineered Chinese Hamster ovary cells

It is claimed, though not without dispute, that genetically engineered mammalian cells grow more slowly than their progenitor cells because the recombinant gene system causes a metabolic burden. This was found to be the case for CHO cells transfected with expression vectors forcytochrome b5. The slower growth was associated with lower metabolic activity measured by heat flux and mitochondrial activity (rhodamine 123 fluorescence). The calorimetric-respirometric ratio was similar for all cell types, implying that the greater fluxes of glucose and glutamine in the recombinant cells was channelled to biosynthesis. This demand probably restricted the supply of pyruvate to the mitochondria in these cells.The authors are grateful to the BBSRC for grant no. 2/3680 and to the University for support from the Senate Research Fund.