Cell culture is the process of growing in an artificial environment cells that have been removed from their host organism. Irrespective of their origin, successful propagation of these cells relies on the use of specialized media that has been carefully designed to favor healthy growth and maintenance. With such a diversity of cell types being studied the range of available media formulations can seem overwhelming, yet it is well worth taking time to research the specific requirements of each particular cell line in order to select the most appropriate media product.
One company that researchers turn to for reliable, high-quality cell lines, growth media, and other materials essential to cell culture is ATCC. “In addition to classical cell culture media formulations that have proven to be reliable for the expansion of many continuous cell lines, we also provide serum-free or low-serum specialty media to support the growth of specialized cell types including stem cells and primary cells,” notes Bob Newman, senior director, R&D for ATCC cell systems.
The media products manufactured by ATCC are the same products used to culture-expand and distribute ATCC cell lines, so by using these products customers can avoid adapting cells to new cell culture conditions. This approach provides for greater experimental standardization between laboratories and improves consistency of results. While some cell lines can replicate in more than one culture medium, their phenotype may alter when the medium is changed, Newman explains, “and for this reason starting cell cultures in the same medium used by ATCC is recommended for generating reliable results.”
StemCell Technologies also has a large portfolio of high-quality cell biology research products, which includes many popular and well-cited cell culture media. The company also offers specialized cell culture media products for a broad range of specific applications. “As well as expanding our original line of hematopoietic stem cell culture media, we’ve grown our product range to include a comprehensive suite of products that support research using pluripotent stem cells, including media for reprogramming, maintenance (in both primed and naïve states), and directed differentiation to many different cell types,” Sam Lloyd-Burton, associate director strategic marketing, explains.
”We’ve also developed media that are optimized for neural, mammary, mesenchymal, prostate, pulmonary, pancreatic, and intestinal cell biology research. Recently, we have collaborated with leading researchers to develop media to support complex 3D organoid models, including intestinal, hepatic, pancreatic, and cerebral organoids. All of these reagents are supplied with optimized, easy-to-use protocols to help streamline experiments, and are subjected to rigorous raw material- and finished product-screening, which reduces experimental variability and increases the accuracy of results.”
The HyClone™ cell culture media range from GE Healthcare represents another comprehensive selection of products that support cell culture growth and biomanufacturing processes using both standard and customized media formulations for the cultivation of a wide range of cell lines. These include CHO, MDCK, Vero, PerC6, and insect cells to name just a few. Peggy Lio, global cell culture process science leader, says that GE focuses on the development of customized media formulations and optimization programs with a customer’s end-goal in mind.
“Approaches will vary depending on the program, but customer input is an integral part of these projects. Through our internal knowledge base of cell culture media and processes, application of advance DoE methodologies, and utilization of high-throughput cell culture models we’re able to explore a larger design space as well as capitalizing on an extensive panel of analytical assays for spent media analysis that reveal critical cellular metabolism information,” she says.
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A good example of a cell culture media developed to meet the specific requirements of a particular cell type is Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Gibco B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System. While the Gibco B-27 Supplement and Neurobasal Medium has been used for a wide variety of neuronal culture applications for more than two decades, there has been intense focus on addressing a significant challenge to more fully understanding how the brain functions, specifically, how to keep neurons alive and functioning for extended periods of time, explains Amy Butler, vice president and general manager of cell biology.
Functional in vitro studies of neurons and neural networks require that the cells are maintained for prolonged periods at an optimal density yet, for example, rodent neurons typically only survive in current media for around 14 days, and their health degenerates significantly during that period. As the desire for more reliable and biologically relevant models has increased, so too has the necessity for a media system that can maintain and mature optimal densities of functional neurons over longer periods of time.
Thermo Fisher Scientifics's Gibco B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System was developed to enable superior modeling of neurons, and provides a high rate of in vitro survival of primary rodent and human stem cell-derived neurons. It has been shown to increase neuronal survival by more than 50%.
The selection of an appropriate cell culture media is vital to the success of any experiment that relies on the use cultured cells, yet since different cell lines have very different nutritional requirements a universal media is, unfortunately, simply not an option. As the range of studied cell lines continues to grow, so too does the expertise and product-offering of the companies that facilitate this research; and with manufacturers happy to share their knowledge, optimal cell growth and maintenance are more achievable than ever before.