The growth of mammalian cell cultures is of immense importance in the biotechnology sector and medical and cell biology research. It has been progressively developing over the past five decades.
Mammalian cell culture involves creating an environment that supports cell growth outside of animal tissues, resulting in identical copies of cells. These cell populations play a vital role in producing valuable biotech products like immunotherapies and vaccines and advancing medical and biological research.
This article will provide an introduction to mammalian cell culture and how you can grow mammalian cell culture in the lab.
The Process Of Cell Culture
Native mammalian cells exist within a complex structure made up of structural proteins and neighboring cells. They receive a variety of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, hormones, co-factors, and oxygen, while waste products and CO2 are regularly removed.
Cell culture, particularly mammalian cell culture, consists of replicating this environment within a laboratory growth medium. This ensures that cells can live outside of their usual tissue.
When we talk about the growth of cell culture, it means that cells divide and multiply to create healthy, identical copies, resulting in an exponential increase in cell numbers.
Perfect Growth Conditions For Mammalian Cell Culture
Mammalian cells are quite selective when it comes to their environment. Some types of cells float freely in the medium, while others from tissues stick to suitable surfaces and grow in layers.
For cell cultures to thrive, they require conditions that closely mimic their natural surroundings: a temperature of 37°C, a pH of 7.4, sufficient nutrients, various minerals and vitamins, and the right levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. However, this environment is also attractive to bacteria and fungi, which is why it’s essential to maintain aseptic conditions.
Laminar flow hoods and culture flasks like the t75 flask ensure a steady flow of filtered air to prevent particles from entering the workspace. Only necessary and disinfected materials are brought in, ensuring a clean and organized workspace.
Growth Medium
Growing mammalian cells in a lab relies on maintaining an environment where the cell culture can thrive. This process involves the use of an appropriate cell growth medium. This medium is a sterile solution containing a balanced pH, filled with nutrients, minerals, vitamins, co-factors, and hormones that cells require for survival.
Maintaining the sterility of the growth medium is of utmost importance to prevent any contamination from microorganisms or different cell types. The specific composition of the growth medium is created to meet the unique needs of the particular cell line.
Components Of Cell Culture Medium
The cell culture media used for growing mammalian cells are complex mixtures formulated to imitate the conditions found in natural tissues. These generally fall into two categories: those sourced from animal plasma (such as bovine, equine, and porcine) that are then enriched with necessary components and those formulated from pure chemicals.
Typical constituents of cell culture media encompass:
- Glucose and/or glutamine
- Amino acids
- pH buffer system
- Salts
- Vitamins
- Hormones
- pH indicator
Checking And Splitting Of Cells
Regular checking of cell culture helps identify the optimum growth, reducing contamination risks and improving results. However, the discoloration of media signifies pH problems. Adherent cells show attachment, while suspended ones exhibit circular morphology after clumping. While checking the cell culture, ensure that consistent splitting before 90% confluence is essential, as CHO cells, doubling every 14-24 hours, need sub-culturing every 3-4 days.
How MBP Inc. Helps In The Growth Of Mammalian Cells?
As the leading provider of molecular biology equipment, MBP Inc. brings an extensive range of t75 cell culture flasks, serological pipettes, and other important equipment and consumables required to create the optimum environment for the cultivation of mammalian cells. Each product from our range is of premium quality that ensures no contamination or taint in your important microbiological culture and fluids. Get in touch with us to get the best lab consumables and equipment for your research.
