A statistically standardized muscle cell culture bioassay measuring the effect of swine serum on muscle cell proliferation.

We have developed a statistically standardized bioassay for quantifying the effect of swine serum on the proliferation rate of cultured L6 myogenic cells. The intra-assay coefficient of variation for this assay is 2.5%. Over 29 experiments, the relationship between the assays response to 2.5% control swine serum and its response to 2.5% serum plus 10(-7) M insulin is linear (r2 = .9). This relationship can be used to adjust experimental data obtained in different experiment to a common control value so that valid inter-assay comparisons can be made. The inter-assay coefficient of variation is reduced four- to five fold by this adjustment procedure. We believe this standardized assay provides a useful system for identifying and isolating unknown growth factors that affect muscle growth rate in an economically important species.