Development and Validation of a Method to Deliver Vitamin A in Cell Culture
Abstract Objectives To develop a method by which vitamin A is delivered to cultured eukaryotic cells Methods The multifaceted role of vitamin A in numerous physiological processes critical to energy metabolism, growth and development is well established. There is epidemiological evidence linking vitamin A levels to a reduced risk of metabolic diseases, suggesting that it plays a vital role at the cellular level. Our strategy was based on reports that retinoid uptake in adipocytes occurs possibly by the hydrolytic actions of lipoprotein lipase on retinyl esters and that retinyl esters are the predominant form in which Vitamin A is stored in hepatic stellate cells. Our preliminary studies show that cultured cells do not take up significant amounts of free retinol delivered in DMSO. To determine whether cells take up vitamin A when present in lipoproteins, we gavaged mice with 300 mg/kg of retinyl esters. Mice were sacrificed four hours later. Results HPLC analyses showed that the predominant form of vitamin A in serum was retinyl esters and that this concentration reached approximately 8 μM. We used this plasma to treat cells and observed a significant increase in intracellular vitamin A stores. Conclusions In conclusion, this study demonstrated that, vitamin A enriched serum treatment of eukaryotic cells, but not otherwise, increase their vitamin A load, and offer vitamin A packed cells for therapeutic applications. Further experiments are being performed to optimize the process, which has potential applications in furthering disease research on vitamin A in cell culture models. Funding Sources National Institutes of Health (NIH).