cell culture

(noun)

The complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment.

Related Terms

  • cytopathic effect

Examples of cell culture in the following topics:

  • Tissue Culture of Animal Viruses

    • In practice, the term "cell culture" now refers to the culturing of cells derived from multi-cellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells.
    • The historical development and methods of cell culture are closely interrelated to those of tissue culture and organ culture.
    • Cultured cells, eggs, and laboratory animals may be used for virus isolation.
    • Cell cultures vary greatly in their susceptibility to different viruses.
    • Discover the use of, and reasons for, culturing animal viruses in host cells
  • Batch Culture of Bacteriophages

    • Bacteriophage cultures require host cells in which the virus or phage multiply.
    • Virus or phage cultures require host cells in which to multiply.
    • For bacteriophages, cultures are grown by infecting bacterial cells .
    • Virus or phage cultures require host cells in which to multiply.
    • For bacteriophages, cultures are grown by infecting bacterial cells.
  • Direct Counting

    • By counting the cells in a known volume of a culture, the concentration can be assessed.
    • In medicine, the concentration of various blood cells, such as red blood cells or white blood cells, can give crucial information regarding someone's health.
    • One can also quantify the number of cells in a culture by plating a known volume of the cell culture on a petri dish with a growth medium, which is also known as a streak plate.
    • The colonies can then be counted and, based on the known volume of the culture that was spread on the plate, the cell concentration can be calculated.
    • As with hemocytometers or counting chambers, cultures need to be heavily diluted prior to plating.
  • Measurements of Microbial Mass

    • Cell cultures are turbid: they absorb some of the light and let the rest of it pass through.
    • In spectrophotometry, cultures usually do not need to be diluted, although above a certain cell density the results lose reliability.
    • This, combined with the stochastic nature of liquid cultures, enables only an estimation of cell numbers.
    • An additional method for the measurement of microbial mass is the quantification of cells in a culture by plating the cells on a petri dish.
    • The colonies can then be counted, and based on the known volume of culture that was spread on the plate the cell concentration can be calculated.
  • Neuroglia of the Peripheral Nervous System

    • The two kinds of glia cells in the PNS, schwann cells and satellite cells, each have unique functions.
    • The PNS has two kinds of neuroglia: schwann cells and satellite cells.
    • Schwann cells provide myelination to peripheral neurons.
    • Functionally, the schwann cells are similar to oligodendrocytes of the CNS.
    • Satellite cells are small glia that surround neurons' sensory ganglia in the ANS.
  • Pure Culture

    • A pure culture is a population of cells or multicellular organisms growing in the absence of other species or types.
    • A pure (or axenic) culture is a population of cells or multicellular organisms growing in the absence of other species or types.
    • A pure culture may originate from a single cell or single organism, in which case the cells are genetic clones of one another.
    • Another method of bacterial culture is liquid culture, in which the desired bacteria are suspended in liquid broth, a nutrient medium.
    • Geomyces destructans in culture from bat tissues.
  • Gene Expression in Stem Cells

    • In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues.
    • Stem cells can now be artificially grown and differentiated into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with muscle or nerve cells through cell culture.
    • In one, the daughter cells are initially equivalent but a difference is induced by signaling between the cells, from surrounding cells, or from the precursor cell.
    • Stem cells are indicated by (A), progenitor cells by (B), and differentiated cells by (C).
    • Pluripotent, embryonic stem cells originate as inner cell mass (ICM) cells within a blastocyst.
  • Osmotic Pressure

    • The correct osmotic pressure in the culture medium is essential for the survival of the cells.
    • Osmotic pressure is an important factor that affects cells.
    • Having the correct osmotic pressure in the culture medium is essential.
    • A cell can be influenced by a solution in three ways.
    • If the medium is hypotonic — a diluted solution with a higher water concentration than the cell — the cell will gain water through osmosis .
  • Cell Migration in Multicellular Organisms

    • Cells achieve active movement by very different mechanisms.
    • The migration of cultured cells attached to a surface is commonly studied using microscopy.
    • As cell movement is very slow (only a few µm/minute), time-lapse microscopy videos are recorded of the migrating cells to speed up the movement .
    • Other eukaryotic cells are observed to migrate similarly.
    • The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is useful to researchers because they consistently exhibit chemotaxis in response to cyclic AMP; they move more quickly than cultured mammalian cells; and they have a haploid genome that simplifies the process of connecting a particular gene product with its effect on cellular behavior.
  • Cultural Lag

    • Cultural lag can occur when technological innovation outpaces cultural adaptation.
    • But these changes in the non-material culture do not match exactly with the change in the material culture.
    • This delay is the cultural lag.
    • As example of cultural lag is human embryonic stem cells.
    • We have the necessary technology to turn stem cells into neurons but have not yet developed ethical guidelines and cultural consensus on this practice.
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