Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Medium (IMDM) is a complex and enriched growth medium for cell culture. It is a modification of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and contains selenium and different amino acids and vitamins. In this blog post, we will explore the components of IMDM, its uses, and the differences between IMDM and other cell culture media.
What is IMDM?
IMDM is a modification of DMEM containing selenium and has additional amino acids, vitamins, and inorganic salts compared to DMEM. It lacks iron and requires supplementation with Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). IMDM uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system and requires a 5-10% CO2 environment to maintain physiological pH.
How is IMDM used?
IMDM is well suited for rapidly proliferating, high-density cell cultures, including Jurkat, COS-7, and macrophage cells. The various modifications of IMDM available for a range of cell culture applications can be found using the media selector tool. Liquid media provide essential nutrients for all cell culture applications. Each of our high-quality cell culture media is manufactured according to the initially published formula or modifications necessary to the consistent performance and stability of the culture medium.
IMDM vs. DMEM
IMDM contains potassium nitrate instead of ferric nitrate and HEPES and sodium pyruvate. The additional components in IMDM make it more suitable for specialized cell types and specific applications than DMEM.
IMDM vs. RPMI
IMDM and RPMI have different formulations that may be relevant for PMA/ionomycin stimulation. One significant difference is the concentration of Ca2+. While RPMI contains 0.42 mM Ca2+, IMDM contains 1.49 mM.
To sum up
In conclusion, IMDM is a complex and enriched growth medium for cell culture well suited for rapidly proliferating, high-density cell cultures, including Jurkat, COS-7, and macrophage cells. It is a modification of DMEM and contains selenium and different amino acids and vitamins. IMDM lacks iron and requires supplementation with FBS, and uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system. The various modifications of IMDM make it suitable for various cell culture applications. The differences between IMDM and other cell culture media, such as DMEM and RPMI make it essential to choose the appropriate media for specialized cell types and specific applications.
When it comes to cell culture, finding a suitable medium is crucial to ensure optimal growth and health of cells. One of the most widely used synthetic cell culture media is Minimum Essential Medium Eagle (MEM). Developed by Harry Eagle, this medium was first introduced in 1959 and has since become a popular choice for a variety of cell types grown in monolayers and attached cell lines.
What's in EMEM?
EMEM is a modified version of Eagle's minimum essential medium, containing Earle's Balanced Salt Solution, non-essential amino acids, two mM L-glutamine, one mM sodium pyruvate, and 1500 mg/L sodium bicarbonate. It's important to note that this reduced level of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3, 1.5 g/L) is intended for use in 5% CO2 in the air. To maintain its effectiveness, it's recommended to store the medium at two °C to 8°C in the dark when not in use.
What is EMEM used for?
Eagle's minimal essential medium (EMEM) is a cell culture medium that can maintain cells in tissue culture. The medium contains higher concentrations of amino acids, allowing for a more accurate approximation of the protein composition of cultured mammalian cells. EMEM may be used to cultivate various cells, including fibroblasts, human liver cancer cell line (HepG2) cells, and human fetal brain progenitor-derived astrocyte cells (PDA). It is typically used in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS), calf, or horse sera.
How is EMEM different from other cell culture media?
While EMEM and Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) share some similarities, they also differ. Both media lack protein and contain the amino acids, salts, glucose, and vitamins required to provide a cell with energy and maintain it in tissue culture. However, the DMEM formulation is modified to contain up to four times more vitamins and amino acids and two to four times more glucose than EMEM. It's worth noting that EMEM is also different from the original MEM formulation.
EMEM 2X contains:
Twice the amount of MEM.
Four times the vitamins and amino acids of the original MEM.
Earle's salts which allows for the culturing of an even wider variety of more nutritionally fastidious cells.
In conclusion, Minimum Essential Medium Eagle (EMEM) is a widely used synthetic cell culture medium that has been instrumental in the cultivation of various cell types. With its higher concentration of amino acids and accurate approximation of the protein composition of cultured mammalian cells, EMEM is a popular choice for maintaining cells in tissue culture. While it shares some similarities with other cell culture media, EMEM's unique formulation and properties make it a valuable addition to any cell culture laboratory.
Culturing cells is crucial in biological research, as it allows scientists to study cellular behavior, growth, and development. Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) is a widely used basal medium that has proven effective in supporting the growth of a variety of mammalian cells, including primary fibroblasts, neurons, glial cells, HUVECs, and smooth muscle cells, as well as cell lines such as HeLa, 293, Cos-7, and PC-12.
What is DMEM and its Composition?
DMEM is a modified form of the original Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium, developed by Harry Eagle and published in 1959 in Science. The modification includes an increased concentration of amino acids and vitamins, making it a more nutritious medium for cell growth. DMEM uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system, which helps maintain a physiological pH in a 5–10% CO2 environment.
Various DMEM formulations are available, including those with higher glucose levels, with or without sodium pyruvate, and L-glutamine/GlutaMAX supplementation. The standard DMEM formulation contains four mM L-glutamine, 4500 mg/L glucose, one mM sodium pyruvate, and 1500 mg/L sodium bicarbonate. It is important to note that DMEM commonly requires fetal bovine serum (FBS) supplementation for optimal growth of cells.
Choosing the Right DMEM for Your Experiment
In conclusion, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) is a widely used basal medium that provides essential nutrients to support the growth of a variety of mammalian cells. With a range of formulations and options for customization, DMEM is an indispensable tool for cell culture experiments.
This special RPMI-based medium is supplemented with L-glutamine, 3.0 g/L glucose and 10% FBS.
It is suitable for a range of applications, such as culturing primary cells, stem cells, and immortalized cell lines. RPMI 1640 is also used in various immunological assays, such as ELISAs and co-cultures. The RPMI-1640 medium has been validated extensively over the years to ensure its reliability and consistency. It is recommended by experts in the field of cell biology for use in experiments requiring robust growth and proliferation of mammalian cell types. Its composition makes RPMI 1640 an ideal choice for many complex research applications.
References
1) Merskey, R., & Pappenheimer, A. M. (1963). A New Medium For The Cultivation Of Leukemia Cells And Other Tissue-Culture Cells. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 112(2), 845–849.
2) RPMI-1640: a protein-free medium optimized for growth characteristics of human hematopoietic cells. (1984). In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology, 20(4), 467–475.
The kit comes with a 450 ml basic growth medium containing phenol red and a 50 ml supplement mix, and the completed medium has a limited shelf life of 4-6 weeks. It is essential to follow the recommended storage conditions, and the kit should not be used for clinical or diagnostic purposes.
Morphology of MSCs propagated in CLS’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium
Figure 1: hDPSC, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells derived from the dental pulp of a donor aged 18 to 25 years cultivated in CLS’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium. Low density on day 1 after seeding (left) and propagated cells on day 3 (right).
Media preparation
To prepare 500 mL of the complete MSC growth medium, thaw the supplement at room temperature (18-25°C) or overnight at 4-8°C.
Do not thaw at 37°C in a water bath, which may harm the ingredients.
Aseptically add the contents of the vials to the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium basic.
We do not recommend using the completed medium for more than 3-4 weeks.
If other volumes of media are required, prepare accordingly, i.e., 90 ml of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium basic plus 10 ml of the supplement mix.
For sterile filtration purposes, use 0.2 µm low protein binding polyethersulfone (PES) filter units.
Quality control
pH = 7.2 +/
- 0.02 at 20-25°C.
Each lot has been tested for sterility and the absence of mycoplasma and bacteria.
Maintenance
To ensure proper product maintenance, the basic growth medium should be stored at 4-8°C, and the supplement mix should be stored at -20°C. It is important not to heat the medium to more than 37°C or use uncontrollable heat sources such as microwave appliances, as this may cause damage to the ingredients.
If only a part of the medium is to be used, it should be removed from the bottle and warmed up in a separate device, and the supplement mix should be aliquoted into smaller parts and stored at -20°C. It is also essential to check the expiration dates on the product labels and use the product before the expiration date to ensure its effectiveness.
Multipotency testing of stem cells cultured in CLS’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium
Figure 2: Multipotency of hDPSC as measured by flow cytometry: the cells were propagated in Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium in regular cell culture flasks and collected at passage 6. Cells were detached using Accutase, rinsed using PBS, and stained for the mesenchymal surface markers CD73, CD90, CD105, and for the absence of the hematopoietic marker HLA-DR. The hDPSCs expressed high levels of the mesenchymal surface markers but lacked the expression of HLA-DR.
Differentiation capability of Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells
Figure 3: Stem cells derived from adipose tissue were cultured in CLS’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium and differentiated using adipogenic differentiation medium (left). For osteogenic differentiation, bone-marrow derived stem cells were cultured in CLS’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium and differentiated using our osteogenic differentiation medium (right).
Endothelial cells play a crucial role in the circulatory system by transporting nutrients and waste throughout the body. Researchers and scientists need a medium that can sustain the development and maintenance of endothelial cells in vitro so that they may study their function and malfunction. CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium fills this need by creating an environment where endothelial cells may thrive throughout their growth and maintenance phases.
Definition of Endothelial Cell Growth Media
An in-vitro cell culture system requires a particular solution called Endothelial Cell Growth Media to sustain the endothelial cells necessary for the experiment. Endothelial cells in the body are exposed to an environment mimicked by the medium, including necessary and non-essential amino acids, vitamins, hormones, growth factors, and trace minerals. This nutrient-dense fluid is critical for preserving the endothelium phenotype and function because it stimulates cell proliferation. Globally, researchers and scientists rely on the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium because it is both effective and simple.
Importance of Endothelial Cell Research
Blood artery creation, blood pressure control, and wound healing are just a few physiological processes in which endothelial cells play a key part. To keep the blood vessels balanced, these cells may react to chemical and mechanical stimuli. In order to fully comprehend the causes of hypertension, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis, research into endothelial cells is crucial. Investigating endothelial cells may also provide light on how to treat these diseases medically. Providing a stable and uniform environment for endothelial cell development and proliferation, the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium has shown to be an indispensable tool in this kind of study.
Quality Assurance
High-quality in-vitro cell culture media is essential for obtaining consistent and repeatable outcomes. Quality control testing is performed on every CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Media batch to guarantee its uniformity and effectiveness. The sterility, lack of mycoplasma and bacteria, and pH levels of each batch are examined. To promote healthy cell development and proliferation, the medium's pH is kept at 7.2 +/
- 0.02, and the temperature is maintained between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. To ensure the culture is clear of any contamination that might impact the accuracy of the findings, the medium is also checked for microbiological pollutants such as fungus, bacteria, and mycoplasma.
Maintenance and Disclaimer
The expiration date of CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Media is six weeks from the production date. The medium should be kept at a temperature of between +2°C and +8°C, away from light, and never frozen or heated over 37°C to preserve its quality. As a corollary, it is crucial to avoid microwaves and other unregulated heat sources that might compromise the product's integrity. A portion of the medium may be taken out of the container and brought up to room temperature if just a little amount will be utilized. CLS's Endothelial Cell Growth Medium is a tried and true method for cultivating endothelial cells because of the stringent quality controls used in its production.
Notably, the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium is not for clinical or diagnostic use; it is designed primarily for in-vitro usage. Obtaining accurate and reliable findings from the medium requires strict adherence to the manufacturer's guidelines and quality control methods.
Applications of the Medium
The CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium has proven useful in several biological studies. As this medium may be used to cultivate endothelial cells, it can be used to simulate endothelial function and malfunction in organ systems in vitro. This is especially useful for studying the blood-brain barrier or tissue-engineered blood arteries. This is essential for understanding disease processes and creating effective treatments.
Endothelial cells, especially HUVEC cells, have been extensively employed in angiogenesis research, wound healing research, and cancer research, thus, the medium has also been modified to promote their proliferation. Accurate and repeatable findings depend on the consistency and high quality of the medium used to develop these cells, and the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Media meets both of these requirements.
Conclusion
Researchers and professionals in the field of biomedical engineering may benefit significantly from using the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Media. For tissue engineering and drug discovery studies, the medium is highly recommended since it promotes the growth of endothelial cells by simulating the endothelial cell environment seen in the body. The medium is very simple to use, needs no unique care, and is subjected to stringent quality assurance procedures to guarantee its efficacy.
Research and knowledge of endothelial function and malfunction may significantly influence the development of therapeutics for atherosclerosis and associated disorders, and the endothelial cell culture medium is a crucial instrument in this endeavor. This medium has become a vital instrument for accomplishing research aims and advancing scientific progress since it provides excellent cell proliferation and maintenance conditions.
To sum up, the CLS Endothelial Cell Growth Medium is a reliable option for scientists studying endothelial cells for their potential in biomedicine.
Cell lines cultured using FRTL Cell Growth Medium
Phase contrast images of FRTL-5 cells: FRTL-5 cells growing in FRTL Cell Growth Medium without TSH (right) and supplemented with 16.5 ng/mL TSH (left) 8 days after seeding.
Medium preparation
The FRTL Growth Medium is a basic medium, which must be finalized by adding the supplement mix provided in frozen 15 mL tubes.
It is recommended to prepare 100 mL of medium. Take out 90 mL basic medium and add 10 mL of supplements from one of the 5 tubes, defrosted at 37°C for a maximum of 5-10 minutes. Although the supplement mix is a sterile solution, we recommend filtering it through a sterile 0.2 µm pore PES membrane syringe filter. The volume of 100 mL is sufficient to start culturing the cells and for the first subculture steps.
Adding 10 mL supplement mix to 90 mL basic medium will result in a TSH final concentration of 16.5 ng/mL.
The proliferation of FRTL-5 cells depends on the presence of TSH in the cell culture medium
TSH-dependent FRTL-5 cell numbers. FRTL-5 were seeded at the same cell density in a medium without TSH (blue bars), containing increasing TSH concentrations (orange bars), and harvested after 8 days of incubation at 37°C/5% CO2. Cells were counted using the DeNovix Celldrop electronic cell counter in the presence of Trypan Blue.
Maintenance
Basic Medium: Keep refrigerated at +2°C to +8°C in the dark. Freezing and warming up to +37° C minimize the quality of the product. Do not heat the medium to more than 37°C or use uncontrollable sources of heat (e.g., microwave appliances).
Supplements: Keep frozen at -20°C in the dark.
Quality control
pH = 7.2 +/
- 0.02 at 20-25°C.
Each lot has been tested for sterility and the absence of mycoplasma and bacteria.
In the field of cell culture research, our Fibroblast Cell Growth Medium has evolved into a powerful instrument for the investigation of numerous illnesses and ailments. Being a complete medium intended exclusively for the culture of fibroblasts, it is prepared to assist the development and multiplication of fibroblast cells, which are present in several human tissues.
What does Fibroblast Cell Growth Media consist of?
Our Fibroblast Cell Growth Medium is a clear, transparent liquid with a pH range of 6-8 that comprises a mix of dissolved inorganic salts, amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, growth factors, hormones, and trace minerals. The medium is intended to supply the components required for the development and multiplication of fibroblast cells, which are crucial for a variety of scientific applications.
Why are fibroblasts essential to scientific research?
Many illnesses and ailments, such as cancer, arthritis, and fibrosis, are being studied using fibroblasts, which have become a vital tool. In addition, they are utilized to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have the potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine.
Fibroblast Cell Growth Medium Ingredients
Our Fibroblast Cell Growth Medium comprises amino acids, vitamins, organic and inorganic chemicals, hormones, growth factors, and trace minerals, both essential and non-essential. Moreover, 2% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) is added to the medium to increase cell adhesion to the culture plate.
The medium is evaluated and adjusted for use in an incubator with 5% CO2 and 95% air. Each batch of the medium is checked for sterility, lack of mycoplasma, and presence of bacteria to assure its quality and uniformity.
Administration and Storage
To preserve the product's quality, the medium should be kept refrigerated between +2°C and +8°C in the dark.
The medium should not be heated over 37°C or subjected to unregulated heat sources.
Freezing or warming up to +37°C might diminish the quality of the product (e.g., microwave appliances).
If just a portion of the medium will be used, it must be withdrawn from the container and brought to room temperature.
The product has a six-week shelf life from the date of manufacturing and is designed only for in-vitro usage, not for clinical or diagnostic use.