Enhanced albumin production by malignantly transformed hepatocytes during in vitro exposure to dimethylsulfoxide.

The murine BW 1 and rat 32III 6/d tumor cell lines, derived from a spontaneous mouse hepatoma and a carcinogen-induced rat hepatocellular carcinoma, were used to investigate the effect of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) on liver cells in vitro. After a 4-day exposure to DMSO in final concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0%, BW 1 cell-associated albumin increased by 41.6 and 94.2%; extracellular albumin levels in these same cultures rose by 131.4 and 214.2%. Exposure of 32III 6/d cells to 2% DMSO produced increases in cell-associated and extra-cellular albumin concentrations of 67.8 and 188.7%, respectively. The lack of inducible gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in BW 1 cells and its decrease in 32III 6/d cultures following DMSO treatment suggests that the DMSO-mediated enhancement of albumin production is not reflective of a random increase in the expression of cellular genes.