6 replies to this topic

[yobou]

Dear All
I would like to know what is the appropriate concentration of Glucose in DMEM medium for ordinary maintenance of human cancer cell lines, is it 1 g/L(5.5mM) or 4.5 g/L (25mM). Also should it contain pyruvate  or not?  should it contain phenol red or not?
thanks

[bob1]

It depends on the cells entirely, each cell type perfers its own conditions.  Consult the ATCC or the ECACC for further information on the conditions for each cell line.

[madelingirly]

Totally agrees with Bob1,
Despite my lack of experience,
I read that different medium composition can cause ur adherent cells not to attach for example.

[yobou]

in my previous lab we all were culturing human cancer cell lines of different origin (>20 cell lines) in DMEM with low glucose (1g/L). Now when I moved to a new lab, I found that they are using DMEM/high glucose (4.5g/L, 25mM) for culturing the same cell lines. The point is that, 4.5g/L glucose mimics hyperglycemic conditions in vivo, but the low glucose (1g/L, 5.5mM) mimics the normal glucose level in vivo. So my question remains unanswered, does anyone know the rational for maintaining the cell lines in a condition that mimics hyperglycemic conditions? unfortunately people here do not the reason, and in some high impact factor journals they use high glucose (http://cancerres.aac...9677.full#sec-2)
comments are appreciated
thanks

[bob1]

There is no rationale for maintaning cells in high glucose, unless that is what the cells were originally cultured in; in which case, culturing them in low glucose would potentially cause a genetic drift sort of effect as the cells become adjusted to the low glucose.  I think you will find that people typically culture their cells in whatever medium they are used to, without thinking about it too much.

Regards phenol red: Some cell lines express oestrogen receptors, which as phenol red is an oestrogen analogue (albeit weak), causes internalization of the receptor and a corresponding decrease in the growth rate of the cells, in theory at least.

[yobou]

I was searching if there was any publication stating that they were maintaining the cells in high glucose medium, I was surprised to find it in some high impact factor journals:
http://cancerres.aac...9677.full#sec-2
http://nar.oxfordjou...r563.full#sec-2
any comment?

Edited by yobou, 15 January 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[kakusan]

That's a good question. I don't have the answer but I found this info from Sigma, which may be helpful for you to understand the function of glucose and pyruvate in culture medium. It's basic biochemistry.

http://www.sigmaaldr...rt/glucose.html