Eagle's minimal essential medium
Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) is a synthetic cell culture medium developed by Harry Eagle first published in 1959[1] in Science (journal) that can be used to maintain cells in tissue culture. It is based on 6 salts and glucose described in Earle's salts in 1934: (calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate), supplemented with 13 essential amino acids, and 8 vitamins: thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), nicotinamide (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyrodoxine (vitamin B6), folic acid (vitamin B9), choline, and myo-inositol (originally known as vitamin B8).
Many variations of this medium have been developed, mostly adding additional vitamins, amino acids, and/or other nutrients.[2]
Eagle developed his earlier "Basal Medium Eagle" (BME) in 1955–1957 on mouse L cells[3] and human HeLa cells,[4] with 13 essential amino acids and 9 vitamins added. BME contains biotin (vitamin B7), which Eagle later found to be superfluous. His 1959 "Minimal Essential Medium" doubles the amount of many amino acids to "conform more closely to the protein composition of cultured human cells. This permits the cultures to be kept for somewhat longer periods without refeeding".[1]
DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium) was originally suggested as Eagle's medium with a 'Fourfold concentration of amino acids and vitamins' by Dulbecco and Vogt published in 1959. The commercial version of this medium has additional modifications detailed below.[5]
α-MEM (Minimum Essential Medium Eagle - alpha modification) is a medium based on MEM published in 1971 by Clifford P. Stanners and colleagues.[6] It contains more non-essential amino acids, sodium pyruvate, and vitamins (ascorbic acid (vitamin C), biotin, and cyanocobalamin) compared with MEM. It can also come with lipoic acid and nucleosides.[7][8]
Glasgow's MEM (Glasgow Minimal Essential Medium) is yet another modification, prepared by lan MacPherson and Michael Stoker.[9]
Composition
One liter of each medium contains (in milligrams):
| Medium | BME[10] | MEM[11] | MEMa[12] |
| Glycine | 50 | ||
| L-Alanine | 25 | ||
| L-Arginine hydrochloride | 21 | 126 | 126 |
| L-Asparagine-H2O | 50 | ||
| L-Aspartic acid | 30 | ||
| L-Cysteine hydrochloride-H2O | 100 | ||
| L-Cystine 2HCl | 16 | 31 | 31 |
| L-Glutamic Acid | 75 | ||
| L-Glutamine | 292 | 292 | 292 |
| L-Histidine | 8 | 31 | |
| L-Histidine hydrochloride-H2O | 42 | 42 | |
| L-Isoleucine | 26 | 52 | 52 |
| L-Leucine | 26 | 52 | 52 |
| L-Lysine hydrochloride | 36.47 | 73 | 73 |
| L-Methionine | 7.5 | 15 | 15 |
| L-Phenylalanine | 16.5 | 32 | 32 |
| L-Proline | 40 | ||
| L-Serine | 25 | ||
| L-Threonine | 24 | 48 | 48 |
| L-Tryptophan | 4 | 10 | 10 |
| L-Tyrosine disodium salt dihydrate | 26 | 52 | 52 |
| L-Valine | 23.5 | 46 | 46 |
| Ascorbic acid | 50 | ||
| Biotin | 1 | 0.1 | |
| Choline chloride | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| D-Calcium pantothenate | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Folic Acid | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Niacinamide | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pyridoxal hydrochloride | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Riboflavin | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Thiamine hydrochloride | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vitamin B12 | 1.36 | ||
| i-Inositol | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) (anhyd.) | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4) (anhyd.) | 97.67 | 97.67 | 97.67 |
| Potassium Chloride (KCl) | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3) | 2200 | 2200 | 2200 |
| Sodium Chloride (NaCl) | 6800 | 6800 | 6800 |
| Sodium Phosphate monobasic (NaH2PO4-H2O) | 140 | 140 | 140 |
| D-Glucose (Dextrose) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Lipoic Acid | 0.2 | ||
| Phenol Red | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Sodium Pyruvate | 110 |
See also
- RPMI 1640 (Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium), for lymph cells
References
- EAGLE H (1959). "Amino acid metabolism in mammalian cell cultures". Science. 130 (3373): 432–7. Bibcode:1959Sci...130..432E. doi:10.1126/science.130.3373.432. PMID 13675766.
- Yao, T; Asayama, Y (April 2017). "Animal-cell culture media: History, characteristics, and current issues". Reproductive Medicine and Biology. 16 (2): 99–117. doi:10.1002/rmb2.12024. PMC 5661806. PMID 29259457.
- EAGLE H (1955). "The specific amino acid requirements of a mammalian cell (strain L) in tissue culture". J Biol Chem. 214 (2): 839–52. PMID 14381421.
- EAGLE H (1955). "The specific amino acid requirements of a human carcinoma cell (Stain HeLa) in tissue culture". J Exp Med. 102 (1): 37–48. doi:10.1084/jem.102.1.37. PMC 2136494. PMID 14392239.
- DULBECCO R, FREEMAN G (1959). "Plaque production by the polyoma virus". Virology. 8 (3): 396–7. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(59)90043-1. PMID 13669362.
- Stanners CP, Eliceiri GL, Green H (1971). "Two types of ribosome in mouse-hamster hybrid cells". Nat New Biol. 230 (10): 52–4. doi:10.1038/newbio230052a0. PMID 5279808.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "α-MEM" (PDF).
- "Alpha MEM with Nucleosides". Stem Cell Tech.
- "Glasgow's Modified Eagle's Medium 51492C". Sigma-Aldrich. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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