Cell culture medium

Cell culture medium is an artificially simulated nutrient environment for cells in the body, providing nutrients and promoting their growth and proliferation. It is also the living environment for cells to grow and reproduce, playing an important role in life science research and biotechnology applications. The following is a specific introduction:

Main Components

• Amino acids: They are the basic units of protein composition. Among them, 12 amino acids are essential amino acids that cells cannot synthesize on their own, such as L-glutamine, L-histidine, L-isoleucine, etc., which must rely on the culture medium to provide and are crucial for cell growth and protein synthesis.
• Vitamins: As bioactive substances that maintain cell growth, they participate in the regulation and control of cell metabolism, such as fat-soluble A, D, E, K and water-soluble B1, B2, B6, B12, etc. Although serum is an important source, many culture media also add them additionally to meet the needs of more cell lines.
• Carbohydrates: They are the main energy source for cell growth and are also one of the components of protein and nucleic acid synthesis, such as glucose, ribose, deoxyribose, sodium pyruvate, and acetic acid.
• Inorganic salts: They are essential elements of cell composition and participate in cell metabolism. Inorganic salts in the culture medium help maintain the osmotic balance inside and outside the cell and regulate the function of the cell membrane by providing ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium, etc., such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, etc.
• Hormones and growth factors: They have an important regulatory effect on the growth and proliferation of cells, such as insulin, hydrocortisone, epidermal growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, etc.
• Buffer system: It is used to maintain the relatively stable pH value of the culture medium, such as the carbonic acid-sodium bicarbonate buffer system, phosphate buffer system, Hepes and other buffer agents.
• Indicator: It can be used to indicate whether the cell is alive and the growth state, such as phenol red, neutral red, etc.

Common Types

• Natural culture medium: Its components come from the body fluid or tissue extract of animals, such as plasma, serum, and tissue extract. The advantages are that the nutritional components are rich, the culture effect is good, and it is suitable for the culture of various cell types; the disadvantages are that the composition is complex, the source is limited, and there are large batch differences, which is not conducive to the standardization and repeatability of experimental results.
• Synthetic culture medium: It is simulated and synthesized according to the types and quantities of substances required for cell survival. The advantages are that the composition is clear, and it can be precisely adjusted according to the needs of different cells, with high batch stability, which is convenient for the control and standardization of experimental conditions; the disadvantages are that it lacks some natural growth factors and nutritional components, and may not support the effect well for some more difficult-to-cultivate cells. Usually, it needs to add natural ingredients such as serum to supplement.
• Serum-free culture medium: It is developed on the basis of synthetic culture medium, without adding animal serum, but using some alternative serum components, such as recombinant growth factors, hormones, transferrin, etc., to meet the needs of cell growth and proliferation. Its advantages are that it avoids the potential contamination risk and batch difference brought by serum, which is conducive to the quality control and safety of cell products, and can be used for cells that are sensitive to serum components or require special culture conditions; the disadvantages are that the cost is high, the culture conditions are relatively harsh, and the cell line needs to be adaptively domesticated.

Function and Significance

• In basic research: It provides the necessary conditions for the growth, reproduction, and differentiation of cells, enabling scientists to study various life activities of cells in vitro, such as the growth law, metabolic process, signal transduction, gene expression regulation, etc., thereby deeply understanding the biological characteristics of cells and the basic laws of life.
• In biotechnology applications: It is used in the pharmaceutical field to produce biological products such as vaccines, antibiotics, growth hormones, etc.; in the field of cell therapy, it is used to culture various types of stem cells, immune cells, etc., to provide cell sources for the treatment of diseases; in genetic engineering, it is used to culture recombinant cells to produce biologically active substances with medicinal value such as proteins and polypeptides.
• In disease research: By culturing diseased cells or establishing disease models, the mechanism of disease occurrence, pathological process, and the action target and efficacy of drugs are studied, providing important experimental basis for the diagnosis, treatment, and drug research and development of diseases.

Precautions for Use

• Choose the appropriate culture medium: According to factors such as the type, source, growth characteristics, and experimental purpose of the cultured cells, select an appropriate cell culture medium. Different cells have different requirements for the composition and nutritional needs of the culture medium. For example, tumor cells usually have a higher metabolic activity and may require a culture medium rich in nutrients; while some normal cells may be more sensitive to the composition and growth environment of the culture medium and require more refined deployment.
• Pay attention to aseptic operation: The cell culture medium should be ensured to be sterile before use to avoid contamination by bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms. In the process of preparation, sub-packaging, and use of the culture medium, strict aseptic operation techniques should be followed, using sterile containers, instruments, and reagents, and operating in a sterile environment, such as in a laminar flow workbench for cell culture-related experiments.
• Proper storage and preservation: The cell culture medium should be stored according to the requirements of the product manual, generally requiring low-temperature and 避光 storage to prevent the degradation and deterioration of nutritional components. Liquid culture medium can usually be stored in the refrigerator at 4°C for a short time, while dry powder culture medium should be stored for a long time in a dry and cool place, and be dissolved and prepared according to the specified method before use.
• Quality inspection and monitoring: Before using the cell culture medium, it is recommended to conduct quality inspection, including checking whether the appearance, color, transparency, pH value, etc. of the culture medium are normal and whether there are precipitation, contamination, etc. At the same time, during the cell culture process, regularly observe the growth status, morphological changes, and proliferation of the cells. If abnormalities are found, the reasons should be investigated in time, which may be related to the quality, composition, or use method of the culture medium.
• Add supplementary components as needed: Some cells may need to add additional components during the culture process to meet their special growth needs, such as antibiotics to prevent bacterial contamination, glutamine to maintain the normal metabolism of cells, serum or growth factors to promote the growth and proliferation of cells, etc. However, when adding these supplementary components, pay attention to their types, concentrations, and usage methods to avoid adverse effects on cells.