Amino acid and hexose transport of normal and simian virus 40-transformed human cells

Studies on amino acid and hexose transport were performed on human WI-38 cells and WI-38 SV40-transformed cells (VA13A and VA13-2RA). Depending upon cell line or conditions, either no difference or a relative decrease in initial uptake by transformed cells was found. Under similar growth conditions, transformed hamster cells (PyBHK-21/C13) had increased uptake, compared with the normal hamster cells (BHK-21/C13). The normal and transformed human cells were also similar in sialic acid content and agglutinated when treated with concanavalin A.