Serum starvation - something similar for serum-free kept cells ? - (Aug/25/2013 )

Hi, got a general question: Is there anything equivalent to serum starvation for cells that are regularly kept in serum-free media (e.g. stem cells) ? I mean some that technique that would also synchronize the cells and/or reduce background signaling noise from media components.

(I once tried withdrawing supplement and growth factors but then my suspension cells turned strangely semi-adherent and began to look sick.)

Tabaluga on Sun Aug 25 16:43:19 2013 said:

Hi, got a general question: Is there anything equivalent to serum starvation for cells that are regularly kept in serum-free media (e.g. stem cells) ? I mean some that technique that would also synchronize the cells and/or reduce background signaling noise from media components.

(I once tried withdrawing supplement and growth factors but then my suspension cells turned strangely semi-adherent and began to look sick.)

Maybe try growing your cells in defined medium? Serum-free alternatives commercially available?

http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/Products-and-Services/Applications/Cell-Culture/Mammalian-Cell-Culture/serum-free-media.html

Or if you're just synchronising your cells (i presume to keep them in the same cell cycle at G0-G1)? You only have to do that for 24-72h depending on cell type.  Then switch it back to serum-containing media.  Or you can try chemically-based synchronisation (e.g. roscovitine, aphidicolin, and colchicine) in the presence of serum.

Thanks for the suggestions. but as I said, the cells I have are already in serum-free (but growth factor and B27-supplement added) medium. They have to be kept in serum-free medium as the presence of serum would completely differentiate them. I was wondering if there is an equivalent technique to serum starvation for cells that don't have serum in their medium in the first place.