Cell culture is an indispensable component of biomedical research. It provides an in vitro model for studying molecular biology, signaling, disease pathogenesis, drug efficacy, etc. The medium is essential in animal cell culture research for regulating cell survival and proliferation. Inappropriate medium can trigger cellular stress, reduce growth rate, and interfere with research results. Therefore, reliable research data depends highly on the culture medium.

Cell Culture Medium

Animal Cell Culture medium is the source of nutrients for cells. It contains glucose, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc., that are essential for cellular processes. Moreover, it comprises a buffering system that maintains pH. The addition of serum, antibiotics, and pH indicator phenol red is optional and varies with cells and culture conditions.

During the early days of in vitro research, medium was primarily natural, using plasma, lymph, and tissue extracts. While defining the media components, synthetic medium emerged, comprising chemical substitutes. Soon, mediums specific to the growth of a particular cell type were outlined. This period also noticed the use of serum from different sources to provide trace minerals, hormones, and growth factors. Now, as the knowledge of culture medium has seemingly evolved, cell-specific media are entering the commercial landscape.

Customized Cell Culture Media

The commercial market of in vitro culture is providing cells and their media to ease the burden of the isolation process and medium formulation. It has accelerated the pace of scientific studies, particularly in the case of primary cells. They are challenging to maintain in culture and have specific media requirements for optimal cellular behavior. Scientific research has divulged that similar cell types from different tissues have distinguishable phenotypes. For example, epithelial cells within the various regions of the kidneys display varying properties. Skin and heart fibroblasts have distinct phenotypes. The rising demand and the advancing technology are enabling the isolation of more tissue-specific cells from different animal models. Therefore, more research is ongoing to prolong the survival and growth of these cells in the in vitro environment. Research labs and private sector companies are pushing to formulate customized cell culture media.

Key Considerations for Customization

Culture medium is procured or formulated either as complete medium or basal medium. Complete medium contains additional components than basal medium and promotes the growth of a particular cell type. However, basal medium is more compatible with customization. The customization process requires two factors:

Selection of appropriate basal medium: Basal media such as DMEM, F12, IMDM, RPMI, etc., are also available commercially. They do not contain serum or any other additives. The right basal medium depends on the cellular characteristics. For example, RPMI is suitable for suspension cells like lymphocytes, whereas DMEM is appropriate for adherent cells like fibroblasts and epithelial cells. This information is available in research papers.

Additives: Some cells, particularly primary cells, require growth factors. For example, endothelial cells require EGF, VEGF, IGF, etc. Therefore, their identification and addition in appropriate amounts are essential for proliferation. 

Applications: Research studies focus on specific biological processes such as differentiation, cell cycle, generation of a particular bioproduct, etc. The media composition varies with different research goals. Even gene editing or 3D culture has distinct media requirements.

Budget: Research labs can tailor media through experimentation. However, this process takes time and labor, which roughly translates to a financial burden. Therefore, a risk-to-cost ratio should be analyzed before pursuing the process.

The Role of the Private Sector

The cost and time factors impede the media customization in research labs. A private Cell Culture Research company addresses this lacuna by offering customization services. They have a team of scientists with expertise in media formulation. The scientific team knows the significance of each media component and the limits to which their concentration can be altered. It studies cell growth and survival characteristics with multiple high-throughput assays to define the final media. The team can even provide expert guidance for optimal culture protocol. The company invests in this avenue and delivers the media at a cost far less than that of the customization process in research labs.

Conclusion

Media optimization is crucial for in vitro research. The demand for customized media has surged in recent years with the growing use of primary cells. These cells possess a distinct genotype of tissue that the easily cultured cell lines lack. Technologies such as co-culture models, 3D culture, microfluidics, organ-on-chip, etc., have enhanced the isolation of primary cells and their sustenance in culture. As more primary cells are extracted, the customization needs also increase. Moreover, with the expanding research goals to study differentiation and dedifferentiation, cell-cell interaction, and novel gene editing, the need for cell-specific media aligning with the research objective is increasing. A cell culture research company is the most valuable partner in research by providing cells or Customized Cell Culture Media, saving the cost and time of scientists. Kosheeka is one such company that has a team of expert scientists that offers custom cells and services for media optimization.