U87MG Cells
Insights on the U87MG cell line
Description | The U87MG cell line, established from a human glioblastoma, is one of the most widely utilized cellular models in neurobiological and cancer research. Originating from a malignant tumor of the central nervous system, these cells exhibit many of the hallmark features of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), including rapid proliferation, high invasiveness, and significant genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity. This makes the U87MG cell line, also referred to as U87 cells, an invaluable tool for exploring the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying brain tumors, as well as for testing potential therapeutic strategies. In neuroscience and immuno-oncology research, U87MG cells serve as a model to elucidate the cell function and cytotoxicity mechanisms in glioblastoma, including the exploration of NK cell cytotoxicity. The expression of NKG2D ligands on U87 cells and the use of NKG2D antibodies in studies highlight the intricate dynamics between cancer cells and the immune system, particularly NK cells, in the tumor microenvironment. The stemness features of U87 glioblastoma cells, alongside their genetic and phenotypic attributes, are subjects of intense study, aiming to unravel the mechanisms that confer these cells a high degree of plasticity and resistance to conventional therapies. The U87 cell line's exact origin remains somewhat enigmatic, with genetic analyses revealing differences from the original tumor. In summary, the U87 cell line remains a fundamental tool in glioblastoma research, facilitating a deeper understanding of the disease's biology and the quest for more effective treatments. |
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Organism | Human |
Tissue | Brain |
Disease | Glioblastoma |
Synonyms | U-87MG, U87 MG, U-87-MG, U87-MG, U-87 MG, U-87, U87, 87 MG, 87MG |
Characteristics of the GBM cell line U87MG
Age | 44 years |
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Gender | Male |
Ethnicity | Caucasian |
Morphology | Epithelial-like |
Growth properties | Adherent |
Documentation
Citation | U87MG (Cytion catalog number 300367) |
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Biosafety level | 1 |
Genetic profile
Isoenzymes | Me-2, 1, PGM3, 1, PGM1, 2, ES-D, 1, AK-1, 1, GLO-1, 1, G6PD, B |
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Tumorigenic | Yes, in nude mice inoculated subcutaneously with 107 cells |
Glioblastoma cell culture handling procedures
Culture Medium | EMEM, w: 2 mM L-Glutamine, w: 1.5 g/L NaHCO3, w: EBSS, w: 1 mM Sodium pyruvate, w: NEAA (Cytion article number 820100c) |
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Medium supplements | Supplement the medium with 10% FBS |
Passaging solution | Accutase |
Subculturing | Remove the old medium from the adherent cells and wash them with PBS that lacks calcium and magnesium. For T25 flasks, use 3-5 ml of PBS, and for T75 flasks, use 5-10 ml. Then, cover the cells completely with Accutase, using 1-2 ml for T25 flasks and 2.5 ml for T75 flasks. Let the cells incubate at room temperature for 8-10 minutes to detach them. After incubation, gently mix the cells with 10 ml of medium to resuspend them, then centrifuge at 300xg for 3 minutes. Discard the supernatant, resuspend the cells in fresh medium, and transfer them into new flasks that already contain fresh medium. |
Split ratio | A ratio of 1:2 to 1:5 is recommended |
Seeding density | 1 x 10^4 cells/cm^2 |
Freeze medium | CM-1 (Cytion catalog number 800100) or CM-ACF (Cytion catalog number 806100) |
Handling of cryopreserved cultures |
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Quality control on the cancer cell line U87MG
Sterility | Mycoplasma contamination is excluded using both PCR-based assays and luminescence-based mycoplasma detection methods. To ensure there is no bacterial, fungal, or yeast contamination, cell cultures are subjected to daily visual inspections. |
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STR profile |
CSF1PO: 10,11
D13S317: 8,11
D16S539: 12
D5S818: 11,12
D7S820: 8,9
TH01: 09. Mrz
TPOX: 8
vWA: 15,17
D3S1358: 16,17
D21S11: 28,32.2
D18S51: 13
Penta E: 7,14
Penta D: 9,14
D8S1179: 10,11
FGA: 18,24
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HLA alleles |
A*: 02:01:01
B*: 44:02:01
C*: 05:01:01
DRB1*: 15:01:01
DQA1*: 01:02:01
DQB1*: 06:02:01
DPB1*: 06:01:01
E: 01:01:01
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Required products
Key Features of Freeze Medium CM-ACF
Serum-Free Formulation: Eliminates the variability and risks associated with serum, providing a defined and controlled environment for a wide array of cell types, including primary cells, stem cells, and established cell lines.
Broad Compatibility: Effective for a wide array of cell types, including primary cells, stem cells, and established cell lines.
High Viability: Optimized to maximize post-thaw cell recovery and viability, ensuring reliable experimental outcomes.
Ready-to-Use: Conveniently prepared and sterilized for immediate application, reducing preparation time and risk of contamination.
Enhanced Stability: Maintains consistent performance under standard cryopreservation conditions, ensuring reproducible results.
Long Shelf Life: CM-ACF is a serum-containing, ready-to-use cryopreservation medium that can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one year.
Using CM-ACF for Freezing Cells
To use CM-ACF for freezing both adherent and suspension cells, follow these steps:
Preparation:
For adherent cells: Wash and dissociate them from the culture substrate.
For suspension cells: Proceed directly to the next step.
Cell Counting: Ensure cells are at the proper concentration.
Centrifugation: Pellet the cells and resuspend them in CM-ACF freeze medium.
Cryovial Transfer: Transfer the resuspended cells into cryovials.
Freezing Process: Use a slow-freezing method before transferring the cells to long-term storage.
Freezing Methods
Method
Description
Steps
❄️ Manual Freezing
A step-by-step method involving gradual temperature reduction to ensure cell viability.
1. Place cells in freeze medium in a 4°C freezer for 40 minutes. 2. Transfer to a -80°C freezer for 24 hours. 3. Store cells in liquid nitrogen for long-term preservation.
🧊 Using Mr. Frosty
A convenient device that allows for controlled freezing rates without electrical power.
1. Prepare cells in cryovials with freeze medium. 2. Place cryovials in Mr. Frosty container. 3. Store at -80°C for 24 hours before transferring to liquid nitrogen.
🧬 Controlled-Rate Freezer
A high-precision freezer by Thermo Fisher or other manufacturers designed for controlled temperature reduction.
1. Program the device to gradually decrease the temperature. 2. Place prepared cells in the freezer. 3. After the freezing cycle, transfer cells to liquid nitrogen.
Long-Term Storage
Store the cryovials at temperatures below -130°C or in liquid nitrogen for long-term preservation.
Ingredients
Contains DMSO, Glucose, Salts
Buffering capacity: pH = 7.2 to 7.6
Cytion’s Freeze Medium CM-ACF offers a reliable solution for cryopreservation, ensuring high cell viability and functionality post-thaw for a wide range of research applications.
Key features of Freeze Medium CM-1 include:
Broad Compatibility: Effective for a wide range of cell types, including primary cells, stem cells, and established cell lines.
High Viability: Optimized to maximize post-thaw cell recovery and viability, ensuring reliable experimental outcomes.
Ready-to-Use: Conveniently prepared and sterilized for immediate application, reducing preparation time and risk of contamination.
Enhanced Stability: Maintains consistent performance under standard cryopreservation conditions, ensuring reproducible results.
Long Shelf Life: CM-1 is a serum-containing, ready-to-use cryopreservation medium that can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one year.
Using CM-1 for Freezing Cells
To use CM-1 for freezing both adherent and suspension cells, follow these steps:
For adherent cells, wash and dissociate them from the culture substrate. For suspension cells, proceed directly to the next step.
Count the cells to ensure they are at the proper concentration.
Centrifuge the cells to pellet them, then resuspend in CM-1 freeze medium.
Transfer the resuspended cells into cryovials.
Use a slow-freezing method before transferring the cells to long-term storage.
🥶 Method
🔍 Description
💡 Steps
❄️
Manual Freezing
A step-by-step method involving gradual temperature reduction to ensure cell viability.
1️⃣ Place cells in freeze medium in a 4°C freezer for 40 minutes.
2️⃣ Transfer to a -80°C freezer for 24 hours.
3️⃣ Store cells in liquid nitrogen for long-term preservation.
🧊
Using Mr. Frosty
A convenient device that allows for controlled freezing rates without electrical power.
1️⃣ Prepare cells in cryovials with freeze medium.
2️⃣ Place cryovials in Mr. Frosty container.
3️⃣ Store at -80°C for 24 hours before transferring to liquid nitrogen.
🧬
Controlled-Rate Freezer
A high-precision freezer by Thermo Fisher or other manufacturers designed for controlled temperature reduction.
1️⃣ Program the device to gradually decrease the temperature.
2️⃣ Place prepared cells in the freezer.
3️⃣ After the freezing cycle, transfer cells to liquid nitrogen.
Store the cryovials at temperatures below -130°C or in liquid nitrogen for long-term preservation.
Ingredients
Contains FBS, DMSO, Glucose, Salts
Buffering capacity: pH = 7.2 to 7.6
Cytion’s Freeze Medium CM-1 offers a reliable solution for cryopreservation, ensuring high cell viability and functionality post-thaw for a wide range of research applications.
- A Gentle Alternative to Trypsin
Accutase is a cell detachment solution that is revolutionizing the cell culture industry. It is a mix of proteolytic and collagenolytic enzymes that mimics the action of trypsin and collagenase. Unlike trypsin, Accutase does not contain any mammalian or bacterial components and is much gentler on cells, making it an ideal solution for the routine detachment of cells from standard tissue culture plasticware and adhesion coated plasticware. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits and uses of Accutase and how it is changing the game in cell culture.
Advantages of Accutase
Accutase has several advantages over traditional trypsin solutions. Firstly, it can be used whenever gentle and efficient detachment of any adherent cell line is needed, making it a direct replacement for trypsin. Secondly, Accutase works extremely well on embryonic and neuronal stem cells, and it has been shown to maintain the viability of these cells after passaging. Thirdly, Accutase preserves most epitopes for subsequent flow cytometry analysis, making it ideal for cell surface marker analysis.
Additionally, Accutase does not need to be neutralized when passaging adherent cells. The addition of more media after the cells are split dilutes Accutase so it is no longer able to detach cells. This eliminates the need for an inactivation step and saves time for cell culture technicians. Finally, Accutase does not need to be aliquoted, and a bottle is stable in the refrigerator for 2 months.
Applications of Accutase
Accutase is a direct replacement for trypsin solution and can be used for the passaging of cell lines. Additionally, Accutase performs well when detaching cells for the analysis of many cell surface markers using flow cytometry and for cell sorting. Other downstream applications of Accutase treatment include analysis of cell surface markers, virus growth assay, cell proliferation, tumor cell migration assays, routine cell passage, production scale-up (bioreactor), and flow cytometry.
Composition of Accutase
Accutase contains no mammalian or bacterial components and is a natural enzyme mixture with proteolytic and collagenolytic enzyme activity. It is formulated at a much lower concentration than trypsin and collagenase, making it less toxic and gentler, but just as effective.
Efficiency of Accutase
Accutase has been shown to be efficient in detaching primary and stem cells and maintaining high cell viability compared to animal origin enzymes such as trypsin. 100% of cells are recovered after 10 minutes, and there is no harm in leaving cells in Accutase for up to 45 minutes, thanks to autodigestion of Accutase.
In summary
In conclusion, Accutase is a powerful solution that is changing the game in cell culture. With its gentle nature, efficiency, and versatility, Accutase is the ideal alternative to trypsin. If you are looking for a reliable and efficient solution for cell detachment, Accutase is the solution for you.
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) is a versatile buffer solution used in many biological and chemical applications, as well as tissue processing. Our PBS solution is formulated with high-quality ingredients to ensure a constant pH during experiments. The osmolarity and ion concentrations of our PBS solution are matched to those of the human body, making it isotonic and non-toxic to most cells.
Composition of our PBS Solution
Our PBS solution is a pH-adjusted blend of ultrapure-grade phosphate buffers and saline solutions. At a 1X working concentration, it contains 137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 8 mM Na2HPO4, and 2 mM KH2PO4. We have chosen this composition based on CSHL protocols and Molecular cloning by Sambrook, which are well-established standards in the research community.
Applications of our PBS Solution
Our PBS solution is ideal for a wide range of applications in biological research. Its isotonic and non-toxic properties make it perfect for substance dilution and cell container rinsing. Our PBS solution with EDTA can also be used to disengage attached and clumped cells. However, it is important to note that divalent metals such as zinc cannot be added to PBS as this may result in precipitation. In such cases, Good's buffers are recommended. Moreover, our PBS solution has been shown to be an acceptable alternative to viral transport medium for the transport and storage of RNA viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2.
Storage of our PBS Solution
Our PBS solution can be stored at room temperature, making it easy to use and access.
To sum up
In summary, our PBS solution is an essential component in many biological and chemical experiments. Its isotonic and non-toxic properties make it suitable for numerous applications, from cell culture to viral transport medium. By choosing our high-quality PBS solution, researchers can optimize their experiments and ensure accurate and reliable results.
Composition
Components
mg/L
Inorganic Salts
Potassium chloride
200,00
Potassium dihydrogen phosphate
200,00
Sodium chloride
8,000.00
di-Sodium hydrogen phosphate anhydrous
1,150.00