[Inhibition of cell viability by cellular debris. Model experiments to study tissue damage (author's transl)]

Some aspects of tissue damage as it may accompany shock are investigated in an in vitro model system. Some effects of cell debris obtained by sonication of BHK 21 cells on viable cultures of freshly dissociated cells of the same line are evaluated. After 24 h incubation on a coverglass, the area covered by cell nuclei per square millimeter was determined. Spreading of viable cells is inhibited by the cell debris. In this way, growth and viability are also impeded. After 24 h the mitotic index in controls and treated cell-cultures is the same. The inhibition is exhibited as well by the supernatant as the pellet of a centrifuged suspension of sonicated cells. The growth retardation is counteracted by the polyvalent protease inhibitor Trasylol (50 KIE/ml), when the whole suspension or its pellet are added to the culture, but not when the supernatant affects the cells. These results indicate that the injurious substance is not a protease. The protective action of Trasylol may be due to a stabilisation of lysosomes. Tissue injury is often accompanied by alterations in cellular adhesiveness to substrate and in growth rate. The system used here offers a simple model to study the influence of necrotic tissue on cell viability as well as its pharmacological susceptibility.