Effect of galactose residue in glycolipid coated onto a dish on ammonia consumption activity of primary rat hepatocytes

Coating a dish for suspension culture with 3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)benzyl alcohol (TDOB-OH), TDOB glucoside (TDOB-Glc), or TDOB galactoside (TDOB-Gal) did not change the morphology of hepatocytes and decreased cell adhesion density to 70%–84% of that without the coating. However, the specific ammonia consumption rate of the culture on a TDOB-Gal-coated dish was 1.81 times that without coating, whereas those of TDOB-OH-and TDOB-Glc-coated dishes were 1.18 and 0.31 times that without coating, respectively. TDOB-Gal coating on a dish for adhesion culture decreased cell adhesion density only by 10% and did not disturb cell spreading. The coating of TDOB-Gal at 1/10 to 1/4 density of that for a monolayer resulted in a higher specific rate of ammonia consumption than that at monolayer density, and the rate reached 1.97 times that without coating. The ammonia consumption activity of hepatocytes was considered to be increased specifically not by the glucose residues but by the galactose residue of the glycolipid, independently of cell spreading.