A recombinant DNA Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line that produces tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) was cultivated continuously in suspension with a constant dilution rate of 0.5 day with three different asparagine concentrations in the feed (0.05, 2.55 and 7.55 mM). The up-shift in asparagine concentration caused an up-shift in asparagine consumption [15.7 and 31.4 nmol (10(6) cells)(-1) h(-1)] and intracellular concentration (2.19 and 18.7 mM). The up-shift was accompanied by an increased production of ammonium, glycine and alanine, and a metabolic shift whereby the cells began to produce aspartate and glutamate, which were consumed before the shift. The tPA production was reduced in the up-shift culture. This might be explained by ammonium inhibition, but alternatively by a surprising down-shift in the intracellular concentration of many amino acids, a down-shift that was not observed in the extracellular concentrations or consumption rates. For efficient physiological engineering of mammalian cells it is necessary to include both extracellular and intracellular measurements and to consider the transport into and out of the cells.