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Biotech: The Best Medium for Culturing Macrophages
We've tested many different media and methods over the years and have some insights to pass along.
One of the most frequently asked questions our scientists field is which medium is best for culturing macrophages?
Over the years, we have tested many different media and methods for culturing both human and mouse macrophages.
Effect on Human Macrophages: DME/F12 vs. IMDM
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We ran the following experiment to compare macrophages cultured in DME/F12 to those cultured in IMDM.
- Both formulations supplemented with 10 ng/mL M-CSF and 10% human serum.
- Added LPS to one-third of the cultures to stimulate TLR4 and polyinosine:cytosine to the other third to stimulate TLR2 after 5 days. The remaining third served as a negative control.
- Culture media collected after 48 hours and cytokines analyzed.
- Findings: The cells grown in DME/F12 produced much more IL-6 and TNFα than the same cells grown in IMDM.
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Effect on Mouse Macrophages: RPMI 1640 vs. RPMI 1640 with HT vs. DME/F12 vs. IMDM
We have also tested the effect of four different culture media on mouse macrophages, which differs slightly from the experiment on human macrophages.
- All 4 media contained 10% fetal calf serum.
- M-CSF was added at a range of concentrations.
- Measured cell growth after 7 days using CellTiter Glo.
- Findings: IMDM performed best of the 4 media tested. Growth in IMDM was superior at lower concentrations of M-CSF.
Your choice of medium can affect both cell growth and function, so it's important to select your medium based on testing, not assumptions. Test several different media in your own lab setting to see how each influences your experimental design.
This post originally appeared on the Astarte Biologics blog and has been modified for Patch.
