8. Cell culture Flashcards
What does cell culture enable you to do?
Operating in this way allows us to perform experiments that are impossible inside organisms.
- Cell culture is vital for studying the functions of these molecules
- Allows direct observation of cellular behaviour under ‘phase-contrast microscope’
In-vitro?
IN-VITRO: LIVE CELLS/TISSUES CAN BE MAINTAIN/STUDIED OUTSIDE THE BODY IN CULTURE
In-vivo?
IN-VIVO: CELLS STUDIED INSIDE ORGANISMS
How do you keep the cells alive in Cell culture?
To keep cells alive outside the organism they are bathed in fluid derived from blood plasma- containing a range of molecules req for survival/growth.
Method? Preparation?
Method:
-Cells/tissues are grown in complex solutions
-These solutions are called ‘composition’
-Composition consists of:
•Salts
•AA
•Vitamins
•With serum components /specific growth factors added
Preparation of cultures: tissue/organ
-Cells need to be dispersed mechanically/enzymatically
-After isolation – cells are cultivated in clear dish
-The cells adhere (stick to) to the clear dish :
•As a single layer of cells (usually). The cells that are kept as a single layer in culture - PRIMARY CELL CULTURES
-Many cells once isolated from normal/pathogenic tissue can be maintained in vitro from long periods of time as they become immortalized and form a permanent cell line
-Most cells obtained from normal tissues have finite/genetically programmed life span
-Some modifications can promote cell immortality TRANSFORMATION (becomes immortalised) process
Immortalised definition?
IMMORTALISED CELL LINE:
POPULATION OF CELLS FROM A MULTICELLULAR ORGANISM WHICH WOULD NORMALLY NOT MULTIPLY INDEFINITELY BUT, DUE TO MUTATION, HAVE AVOIDED NORMAL CELLULAR PROCESSES/GROWTH AND KEEPS UNDERGOING DIVISION. THE CELLS CAN BE GROWN FOR PROLONGED PERIODS IN VITRO.
What do the methods of cell culture allow the study of?
- Metabolism of normal and cancerous cells
- Development of drugs and the
- Study of parasites that grow w/in cells (virus/mycoplasma)
