Methods of cell culture

Section 1: Introduction to Cell Culture

Cell culture refers to the process of growing cells under controlled conditions, generally outside their natural environment
This technique is used in research to study the physiology of cells, their responses to various drugs and the developmental patterns of diseases
Cell culture is indispensable in microbiology for understanding the behaviour and propagation of different cell types

Section 2: Basic Steps in Cell Culture

Initialization: Involves the extraction of cells from a plant or animal source. These cells then undergo a process called disaggregation, breaking the cell mass into individual or small groups of cells
Cell Seeding: After the disaggregation, cells are placed into a vessel with a liquid medium that supports their growth
Primary Culture: The extracted cells will proliferate in the vessel forming a monolayer, and this primary culture can then be passaged onto fresh media to sustain growth and proliferation
Sub-culturing or Passaging: As cells grow, they reach a state of confluence where they require passaging. This involves transferring the cells from a previous culture into fresh growth medium.
After passaging, these cells will again grow and proliferate, marking the beginning of another sub-culture or passage

Section 3: Types of Cell Culture

Monolayer Culture: Cells are grown in a single layer on the surface of a culture vessel. The cell-cell interactions as well the interaction between cells and the culture surface mimic those in vivo
Suspension Culture: Cells are grown in a liquid medium where they float freely. This type of cell culture is commonly used for cells that do not tend to adhere to the surface
Three-Dimensional Culture: Cells are grown in a gel matrix or sponge-like material that mimics the in vivo environment in detail. Useful to understand the responses of cells in a somewhat realistic environment

Section 4: Importance of Cell Culture

Cell culture techniques enable us to break down the complex processes of an organism to the simplest level - that of a single cell
These methods enable the study of cellular structures and functions and how they interact or react to various stimuli
Certain diseases (cancer for example) show unique cell behaviour which can be studied using cell culture techniques
Cell cultures also play a significant role in drug testing and development, vaccine production and tissue engineering