Protocol Online logo
Top : Forum Archives: : Cell Biology

ex vivo - in vitro - (Dec/11/2006 )

Dear friends,
I'm wondering if both ex vivo and in vitro have the same meaning.
Thanks!

-sayeh-

i don't think so.
In vitro is in the eppi.
Ex vivo means that you've done your exp (interaction for example) in a cell or using Bgal assay.

-fred_33-

ex vivo = "taken from something living"
in vivo = "in glass"

So I can have an ex vivo artery that I perform experiments on in vitro

-Rachael-

Wikipedia says:

Ex vivo (Latin: out of the living) means that which takes place outside an organism.
In science, ex vivo refers to experimentation done in or on living tissue in an artificial environment outside the organism. The most common "ex vivo" procedures involve living cells or tissues taken from an organism and cultured in a laboratory apparatus, usually under sterile conditions for a few days or weeks. The living cultured cells serve as models of the whole organism, reducing the need for vivisection. One widely performed ex vivo study is the chick chorioallontoic membrane (CAM) assay. In this assay, angiogenesis is promoted on the CAM membrane of a chick embryo outside the organism (chicken). Ex vivo studies are usually performed in vitro, although the use of these two words is not synonymous.

It seems ex vivo is in vitro but in vitro is not ex vivo. blink.gif

-aleruiz-

QUOTE (sayeh @ Dec 11 2006, 10:43 PM)
Dear friends,
I'm wondering if both ex vivo and in vitro have the same meaning.
Thanks!


in vitro is also cell culture although you work with living cells; I also think that it is not the same but the context is relevant to decide which term is to use

-The Bearer-