This laboratory is an introduction to tissue or cell culture techniques in cell biology. The laboratory handout and textbook alone contain enough information as an introduction to the subject for this level of study. If you are interested in further reading, I have also included below links to more detailed textbooks and websites with further information and images. Please note this additional information is not necessarily examinable, but may be useful if you have not previously studied biology. |
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Part of the Lab is to answer the questions below on this page using the various resources and links on this current page. |
A single cell grown in tissue culture |
Understand historic background of cell culture
Understand growth of animal cells in culture
Brief understanding of nutritional requirements of cells
Understand the difference between a primary cell culture and cell line culture
Brief understanding of how cell lines are established
Page Links: Introduction History | Microscopy | Other Resources | NLM Online Textbooks | Search PubMed | Search Online Textbooks | Search Online Mendelian Inheritence in Man |
In Cell Biology, we need to be able to study individual cells, which can be difficult in the original animal or plant (in vivo). Therefore cell culture allows us to study (in vitro) individual, groups of, and whole tissues of cells.
From a beginnining early last century we have learnt the nutritional requirements of cells for in vitro survival and developed a large number of research techniques based upon our ability to isolate and grow cells.
Using nearly identical tissue culture techniques different research labs can be carrying out diverse research projects (basic research, clinical, cancer, viral, stem cell, neurobiology, immunology, etc.). Remember that this is an introduction to cell culture and we will come back and revisit the topic in several classes.
Trace the textbook summary of historic landmarks in the development of cell culture, which began about a century ago. Then look at textbook links below for more details and finally the external links to Cell Banks and some other labs and methods. Then look at the Cell Biology Lab Tissue Culture Intro Page
Who are the main are the main suppliers of cell lines?
What are the major cell types that are available?
How are the cells characterised?
Resources: American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) | European Collection of Cell Cultures (ECACC)
What are the main peices of equipment required in a tissue culture lab?
How is safety assessed and used for tissue culture research?
What does sterile technique mean?
What are the major forms of lab disinfection?
Resources: Fundamental Techniques in Cell Culture ... a Laboratory Handbook
What are the basic constituents of tissue culture media and their chief functions?
Resources: Fundamental Techniques in Cell Culture ... a Laboratory Handbook
How are cells preserved and stored?
Resources: Fundamental Techniques in Cell Culture ... a Laboratory Handbook
Other Cell Culture Pages: Julie B. Wolf (UMBC)Tissue Culture Methods-1
Commercial Resources: Corning - cell culture | Personal Safety in the Laboratory cryogenic storage
NCBI
MBoC | Publisher (Garland) MBoC
Table 8-3. Some Landmarks in the Development of Tissue and Cell Culture
Isolating Cells and Growing Them in Culture
Serum-free, Chemically Defined Media Permit Identification of Specific Growth Factors
Search MBoC4 - "
Cell Culture"
NCBI
MCB | Publisher
(Freeman) MCB
Growth of Animal Cells in Culture
Figure 6-5. Stages in the establishment of a cell culture
Search MBC - "
Cell Culture"
NCBI The Cell | Publisher
(Sinauer) The Cell
Growth of Animal Cells in Culture
Key Experiment : Animal Cell Culture
Search The Cell - "Cell Culture"
Culture of Animal Cells: A Manual of Basic Technique (3rd edition) Freshney, R. I., 1994., Wiley-Liss, New York.
Biohazard Hood to Prevent Infection During Microbiological Procedures Lewis L. Coriell and Gerard J. Mcgarrity Appl Microbiol. 1968 December; 16(12): 1895-1900. Historic article on biohazard hood design
Safe biotechnology (5). Recommendations for safe work with animal and human cell cultures concerning potential human pathogens. Frommer W, Archer L, Boon B, Brunius G, Collins CH, Crooy P, Doblhoff-Dier O, Donikian R, Economidis J, Frontali C, et al.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 1993 May;39(2):141-7.
Cell culture models of differentiation. Watt FM., FASEB J. 1991 Mar 1;5(3):287-94. Review. read the article
The golden age of retinal cell culture. Seigel GM., Mol Vis. 1999 Apr 19;5:4. Review.
read the article
Comparing the properties of neuronal culture systems: a shopping guide for the cell biologist. Hollenbeck PJ, Bamburg JR. Methods Cell Biol. 2003;71:1-16. Review.
Preservation of Cell Culture Stocks in Liquid Nitrogen Hay, R. J., 1978, pages 787-790. TCA Manual 4.
A Simple Method for Freezing and Thawing Cultured Cells Schroy, C. B., and P. Todd, 1976, pages 309-310. TCA Manual 2, Procedure
Number 76035.
Freezing, Storage, and Recovery of Cell Stocks Shannon, J. E. and M. L. Macy, 1973, pages 712-718. In Tissue Culture: Methods and Applications. P. F. Kruse and M. K. Patterson Jr. Eds. (Academic Press, New York).
Simple Freezing Procedure for Storage in Serum-free Media of Cultured and Tumor Cells of Mouse Waymouth, C. and D. S. Varnum, 1976, pages 311-313. TCA Manual 2, Procedure Number 76165.
The storage of cells from different tumor lines in a mechanical freezer at -80 degrees C. Comparison to cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen. Ratajczak MZ, Kregenow DA, Kuczynski WI, Ratajczak J, Gewirtz AM., Mater Med Pol.1994 Apr-Jun;26(2):69-72. view abstract
Cell culture contamination: an overview. Langdon SP, Methods Mol Med. 2004;88:309-17. Review.
view abstract
A list of related PubMed articles on Cell Culture Contaminations
Cell Banks American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) | European Collection of Cell Cultures (ECACC)
Other Cell Culture Pages Julie B. Wolf (UMBC)Tissue Culture Methods-1
Commercial Resources
Corning :
cell culture |
Personal Safety in the Laboratory
cryogenic storage
Different databases can be selected from the pulldown menu.
Selected option "Entrez" shows the results from searching all the different NCBI databases simultaneously.
NCBI "Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease"
This allows a Search of NIH Medlineplus Medical Dictionary. Type the word that you would like to find. If unsure of spelling, type the first few letters, followed by an asterisk(*).
microscopy, tissue culture, cell fractionation, histology, immunochemistry, protein separation,
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This Lab is an introduction to cell culture, also called tissue culture. As such, I expect at this stage only a broad understanding of concepts, that will be built upon in later Labs.
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.