DEATH OF SERUM-FREE MOUSE EMBRYO CELLS CAUSED BY EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR DEPRIVATION IS PREVENTED BY CYCLOHEXIMIDE, 12-O-TETRADECANOYLPHORBOL-13-ACETATE, OR VANADATE

Serum-free mouse embryo cells cultured in medium supplemented with insulin, transferrin, high-density lipoprotein, and fibronectin are dependent on epidermal growth factor for survival. Cycloheximide or actinomycin D prevented cell death caused by growth factor deprivation, suggesting that cell death required the synthesis of RNA and protein, a phenomenon similar to that reported for neuronal cell death in the absence of nerve growth factor. Orthovanadate, an inhibitor of phosphotyrosine phosphatases, and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, an activator of protein kinase C, also prevented serum-free mouse embryo cell death in the absence of epidermal growth factor. © 1990.