[Polarographic study of cell respiration in a tissue culture]

A simple procedure for measuring the cells respiration without their transformation into the suspension, is suggested: seven glass slides with the cell culture of PKEV (pork, kidney, embryo, versen) are placed into the polarographic cell. Under these conditions the oxygen electrode easily records the fall of oxygen tension in the polarographic cell due to the respiration of 10(5) cells. Oxygen consumption is linear in time at the O2 concentration within the range from 480 to 200 nanoatoms per 1 ml of medium. The respiration rate is found to be enhanced by uncoupler and suppressed by the inhibitors of the electron flow chain (NaCN, antimycin A, amytal, rotenone) and mitochondrial ATPase (oligomycin and diciclohexylcarbodiimide). The above approach enables to evaluate the mitochondrial respiration of any cell monolayer keeping the cells intact.