Magnesium variability of lymphocytes from cell culture

We determined the magnesium content for two different Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines (EW 36 and CA 46) after transfer to new media for 7 consecutive days. Aliquots of the cell culture were washed and the cell pellet was obtained by centrifugation and lysed with distilled water with and without the addition of 0.25% lanthanum oxide. Magnesium was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The addition of lanthanum permitted the detection of between 8 and 40% more magnesium. The increased magnesium liberated by the addition of lanthanum was calculated as the "bound" magnesium. The results show that the total magnesium is inversely related and the bound magnesium directly related to the age of the cell culture. Thus, there is a decrease of lymphocyte magnesium content and an increase in the percentage of magnesium bound for these two cell lines with increasing age of the cell culture.