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Home >> Animal Tissue Culture and Hybridoma Technology >> Functions of Serum in the Culture Medium
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Functions of Serum in the Culture Medium

 1. It provides the basic nutrients for cells; the nutrients are present both in the solution as well as are bound to the proteins.

2. It provides several hormones, e.g., insulin, which is essential for growth of nearly all cells in culture, cortisone, testosterone, prostaglandin, etc.

3. It contains several growth factors, e.g., platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor β (TGF- β), epidermal growth factor, etc.; these are present in concentrations of µg/l.

Both hormones and growth factors are involved in growth promotion and specialized cell function.

A given hormone or growth factor may stimulate growth of one cell type, may have no effect on another and may even be inhibitory to some others. For example, PDGF induces proliferation in fibroblasts, but induces differentiation of some types of epithelia.

Further, proliferation of a single cell type may be induced by more than one growth factor, e.g., fibroblasts respond to PDGF, epidermal growth factor, fibroblast growth factor and somatomidins.

4. A major role of serum is to supply proteins, e.g., fibronectin, which promote attachment of cells to the substrate. It also provides spreading factors that help the cells to spread out before they can begin to divide.

Although cells do produce these factors, but trypsinized cells are usually unable to attach to the substrate.

5. It provides several binding proteins, e.g., albumin, transferrin, etc., which carry other molecules into the cell. For example, albumin carries into cells lipids, vitamins, hormones, etc.

Transferrin usually carries Fe in a nonbasic form, but binding of transferrin to its receptor in cell membrane is believed to be mitogenic.

6. It increases the viscosity of medium and, thereby, protects cells from mechanical damages, e.g., shear forces during agitation of suspension cultures.

7. Protease inhibitors present in the serum protect cells, especially trypsinised cells, from proteolysis.

8. The serum also provides minerals, like Na+, K+, Fe2+, Zn2+, etc.

9. It also acts as a buffer.
   
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