Cell Culture Media
Cell culture media support the growth and maintenance of a variety of mammalian and other cell lines in vitro, as either anchorage-dependent or suspension cultures. Cell culture offers convenience, control, consistency and reproducibility of results, especially when using clonal cells.
Cell culture has multiple applications in cellular and molecular biology:
- Studying normal cell physiology and biochemistry
- Industrial bioprocess/bioreactor manufacturing of vaccines, therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies using recombinant, high-yield protein expression systems
- Pharmaceutical screening and development, including drug metabolism and toxicology
- Other emerging applications in stem cell culture, immunotherapy and cell therapy
Commercially available cell culture media are subject to very stringent testing and manufacturing controls. They fall into several categories:
- Classical mammalian cell culture media (DMEM, MEM, RPMI 1640, McCoy’s, Ham’s, BME and EBSS) contain all the nutrients that cells need, such as amino acids, minerals, vitamins and glucose
- Individual cell culture reagents and supplements, including growth factors (e.g. pyruvate), antibiotics, hormones, cryopreservation media, cell dissociation reagents and animal-derived sera (e.g., FBS foetal bovine serum) which contain a ready-made natural mixture of nutrients
- Speciality media, including stem cell culture media, transfection media, and serum-free or animal-derived component-free (ACDF) additives
- Ancillary buffers and process liquids, including balanced salt solutions (PBS phosphate buffered saline, Hank’s HBSS, Earle’s EBBS), sodium bicarbonate and HEPES buffers, phenol red, cell culture grade water, and adherent cell microcarriers
Cell culture media are typically supplied as presterilised ready-to-use liquids, concentrates, powders or other solids in bottles, or else as single-use sealed bags for integration into compatible cell culture harvesting systems.
Commercially available cell culture media are subject to very stringent testing and manufacturing controls. They fall into several categories:
Commercially available cell culture media are subject to very stringent testing and manufacturing controls. They fall into several categories:
Commercially available cell culture media are subject to very stringent testing and manufacturing controls. They fall into several categories: