Cell Culture Flashcards
What are 4 things a medium must provide in order for bacteria to grow?
- A carbon source e.g. glucose
- A nitrogen source e.g. NH4 ions
- Salts e.g. Na+, K+, Mg2+
- Trace elements
What is the disadvantage of liquid culture?
It is easier to remove bacteria on a solid surface
What 3 things do plant cells need to grow?
- Carbon source e.g. glucoose
- Amino acids
- Vitamins and hormones
What is the biggest difference between what plants cells need and what animal cells need?
Animal cells need serum in order to grow
What is serum?
Blood minus red and white blood cells and clotting proteins
What two factors does serum contain that means animal cells can grow in culture?
Cell spreading factors (cells flatten out) and cell growth factors (encourage growth and replication)
What is the problem with serum?
They are not consistent
What is a popular choice of serum and why is it used?
Foetal calf serum because it has not been exposed to infection
What are the steps in cell culture?
- Remove cells from specimen
- Add to culture
- Cells well distributed into a primary culture
- Cells grow until touching and stop
- Cells removed using enzymes
- Cells placed in cell suspension
- Cell suspension split into 3 dishes
What is the first culture of cells called?
Primary culture
What is the culture called when the cells have stopped growing cause their touching?
Secondary culture
What is the path of primary to secondary culture called?
A passage
How are passages noted?
By number i.e. P6, P10
What is the hayflick limit?
The number of times you can passage and get growth (normally 20)
What are cells that exceed the hayflick limit?
They are immoral (like HeLa cells) and can be used in experiments
