Animal Cell Culture

Primary Explant Culture

Hayflick Limit

Cell Culture Systems

Definition

Steps Overview

A method to culture small pieces of tissue which has been removed surgically from animal tissue or organ (Rao, 2020).

  1. Acquiring the explant

Primary Cell Culture

Adherent Cell Culture

Suspension Cell Culture

Samples grown and maintained from directly obtained/selected tissue explants OR from individualized cells obtained from the original/parental tissue

Secondary Cell Culture

A concept that aids in the understanding of cellular aging mechanisms.

Monolayer on artificial solid substrate, culture is growing on top of the layer (Thermofisher, n.d.)

Free floating culture in the culture medium (Thermofisher, n.d.)

A regular human cell can divide/grow 40-60 times before reaching its maximum, at which point it will die by apoptosis (programmed cell death).

Cell line

When continuously subcultured, the primary culture can become an established cell line, which can be propagated repeatedly unlike the primary culture and has consistent properties.

Disadvantages

Easy to implement for many cells, easier visual observations, but very limited in terms of growth due to limited surface area (Thermofisher, n.d.)

Require cells that adapts to suspension culture, require regular cell counting, good for bulk or batch harvesting due to its larger volume for cell growth (Thermofisher, n.d.)

Time-consuming

Finite cell lines

Explant-borne contamination

Generation of heterogeneous cells

Continuous cell lines

example

  1. Cut and clean the explant
  1. Culturing the explants

Definition

Definition

Advantages & Drawbacks

Advantages & Drawbacks

  1. Subculturing and constructing cell line

Heterogenous

Advantage: Best culture for In-vivo model/studies and they share the same karyotypes as their parent cells

Three Dimensional
Structure Reconstruction

Subcultures grown from samples produced in the primary cell culture

Dispersed cells are arranged into an organ-like formation to observe the cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions naturally observable.

Low contamination risk

Thermofisher. (n.d.). Adherent cell culture vs. Suspension cell culture. Thermofisher.com. https://www.thermofisher.com/id/en/home/references/gibco-cell-culture-basics/cell-lines/adherent-vs-suspension-culture.html

Definition

Histotypic culture

Advantage: Useful for obtaining large populations of similar cells, able to grow indefinitely (Homogenous, Long lifetime)

Organotypic culture

Co-culturing of cells from various differentiated lineages to induce functionality.

Growing cells in high concentrations similar to that in tissue to observe cell-cell interactions

Disadvantage: Cells may differentiate over a period of time and generate aberrant cells

Disadvantage: High potential for contamination and have limited lifespans

Rao, G. (2020). The What, Why and How of Explant Culture. BiteSizeBio. https://bitesizebio.com/46245/the-what-why-and-how-of-explant-culture/

Definition

Definition

Cell lines with a limited number of cell generations and growth

A set of techniques used to reproducibly cultivate microorganisms at submaximal growth rates at different growth limitations in such a way that the culture conditions remain virtually constant (in ‘steady state’) over extended periods of time

Definition

Definition

Characterization

Anchorage Dependence

Density Limitation

Characterization

Slow Growing

Tumor Like dependency

Immortal like tendency

Fast Growing

Segeritz, C. P., & Vallier, L. (2017). Cell Culture: Growing Cells as Model Systems In Vitro. Basic Science Methods for Clinical Researchers, 151–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803077-6.00009-6

Propagation Indefinitely

Propagation until certain generation

Disadvantages

Advantages

Cells have a tendency to differentiate over time in culture

Over time the culture tends to select for aberrant cell

Most cellular characteristic are maintained

Can transform cells to grow indefinitely

Can obtain a large population of similar cells

Disadvantages

Advantages

The more aggressive the cell line, the more it changes over time in culture in cellular level

Not clear how the function of these cells relates to that of other cells (differentiation of healthy and diseased cells)

Easy to obtain large population of cells

Typically easy to manipulate gene expression

Easy to maintain in culture