Queuine modulates growth of HeLa cells depending on oxygen availability

HeLa cells can be grown in media supplemented with horse serum that is lacking the nutrient factor queuine. The addition of 1 X 10(-8) M queuine to aerobically grown cells caused a slight, but significant, inhibition of growth, whereas cell proliferation was stimulated increasingly when the concentration of queuine was raised from 3 X 10(-8) M to 3 X 10(-7) M. This was also observed when the cells were transiently starved of serum factors. When the cells were grown under hypoxic stress, but otherwise identical conditions, they responded to queuine in an opposite manner. Under conditions of mitogenic stimulation, characteristic new proteins were found in cytosolic, nuclear and mitochondrial fractions of aerobically grown cells. The effects of queuine on cell proliferation at low concentrations are assumed to be mediated by the free base, whereas the effects at higher concentrations possibly involve both, queuine and Q-tRNAs. The 'Q system' appears to mediate growth control in dependence on oxygen availability.