[Roller Chamber Technique in Cell Toxicology]

A cell culture procedure has been developed which permits target and liver cells to be co-cultured on separate standard culture dishes. The cultures are connected in a closed chamber which makes experiments with volatile substances possible. The chamber is slowly rotated to ensure good physiological conditions during incubation. In this system the effects of cyclophosphamide, acrylamide, n-hexane, 2,5-hexanidione, carbon tetrachcloride, allyl alcohol, and an experimental substance (H200/68) on cells from the nervous system have been investigated. Toxic effects have been registered as changes in cell growth rate and rate of protein synthesis. The results show that liver cell mediated alteration in toxicity can be studied successfully using the roller chamber co-culture method. The present paper is a combination of results obtained within several projects either aimed at the development of the roller chamber technique or having in view to address certain toxicological problems.