Effect of methotrexate concentration and exposure time on mammalian cell survival in vitro

Chinese hamster, HeLa and HAK cells were treated with methotrexate (MTX) to determine the dependence of its effect on drug concentration and exposure time. With a broad range of survival curves for Chinese hamster cells, cell survival is an exponential function of exposure time and a power function of drug concentration. The data allow a mathematical description to be made of the interdependence of MTX concentration and drug exposure in relation to cell survival.