Cell culture media can be classified in multiple ways. The following are common classifications:

Classification by Components

• Basic Media: They provide the basic nutritional components for cell growth, such as amino acids, vitamins, inorganic salts, and glucose. Common basic media include MEM, DMEM, and RPMI-1640. Among them, DMEM was modified by R. Dulbecco in 1959 based on the classic Eagle’s Minimum Essential Medium. There are high-glucose and low-glucose versions. High-glucose DMEM is suitable for cell types with higher glucose requirements, such as adherent cells like fibroblasts, epithelial cells, and hepatocytes, as well as some suspension cells. Low-glucose DMEM is applicable to cells with lower sugar requirements. RPMI-1640 is mainly used for culturing suspension cells and immune cells, such as lymphocytes, leukemia cells, and tumor cell lines. It can also support the culture of some adherent cells. It contains the reducing agent glutathione and a high concentration of vitamins, which helps with cell proliferation. MEM is a classic cell culture medium and is widely used for culturing mammalian cells, especially those with lower requirements for the culture environment. It is the basis for many other modified media.
• Serum-Free Media: This is a type of cell culture medium that does not contain any serum components. Specific growth factors, hormones, nutrients, etc. are added to replace the beneficial components in serum to meet the needs of cell growth and proliferation. Not all cells can grow in serum-free media. It is usually optimized for specific cell types, such as tumor cells, stem cells, and CHO cells. Serum-free media are commonly used in cell culture, protein expression, virus production, and other fields. They play an important role in biopharmaceutical production, vaccine production, and reducing the interference of serum on experimental results.
• Complete Media: These are media in which additional components are added to the basic media to support cell growth and proliferation. Usually, the additional components include fetal bovine serum, growth factors, hormones, and antibiotics. Fetal bovine serum is rich in growth factors, proteins, lipids, and hormones. It supports cell proliferation, differentiation, and growth, and also provides necessary attachment factors to help adherent cells adhere and grow. In addition, growth factors such as epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor-β, or hormones such as insulin and estrogen, as well as antibiotics such as penicillin-streptomycin to prevent contamination, and other additives like glutamine and HEPES buffer are added according to specific cell types.
• Media with Special Additives: These refer to media in which specific components are added to the conventional media based on the requirements of experiments or cell culture to support the growth, proliferation, differentiation, or function maintenance of specific cells. Compared with ordinary basic media or complete media, their components are more targeted, usually to meet the unique needs of certain cell types or to enhance or suppress certain functions of cells under specific experimental conditions.

Classification by Applications

• Adherent Cell Media: They are suitable for supporting adherent cells such as fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Typical media include DMEM and MEM.
• Suspension Cell Media: They are suitable for suspension-growing cells such as immune cells and tumor cells, such as RPMI-1640 and CHO media.
• Stem Cell Media: They contain special growth factors and are used to support stem cells to maintain an undifferentiated state or to differentiate in a directed manner, for example, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Common ones include StemPro and mTeSR.
• Serum-Free Media: Besides the advantages and characteristics mentioned in the classification by components, in application, they are often used in monoclonal antibody production, drug screening, and gene therapy, such as CHO media and HEK293 media.
• 3D Media: They are used to support cells to grow in a three-dimensional structure, imitating the in vivo environment. They may combine with gel matrices such as Matrigel or use low-adhesion culture plates.

Classification by Functions

• Selective Media: They contain antibiotics or other compounds that can inhibit the growth of non-target cells, making it easier to isolate specific cell types.
• Differentiation Media: They contain specific growth factors that can induce stem cells to differentiate into target types, helping to study the processes and mechanisms of cell differentiation.
• Specific Media: They are designed for certain specific cells, such as hepatocytes, nerve cells, and cardiomyocytes, and can provide a more suitable growth environment and nutritional support for these cells. For example, Neurobasal is a nerve cell medium.