Phenol red in media - What metabolic products of cells are acidic? (May/26/2009 )

Dear Forum,

Sorry for the basic nature of my question, but I a very new to tissue culture. I understand phenol red is used in media as a pH indicator. But does anyone know what are the metabolic products of cells that are acidic?

Thanks for your help,

Alun.

alun2009 on May 26 2009, 04:28 PM said:

Mammalian cells, under typical conditions, convert most of the glucose consumed into lactic acid. This ultimately has adverse effects on cell growth. Indeed, the accumulation of lactate limits the maximum cell concentration achieved in cultures.

Hope this helps

klinmed on May 26 2009, 04:15 PM said:

Thanks - that makes sense. Do you also think the production of CO2 by the cells could acidify the media?