Synthetic Medium: RPMI 1640 and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)

Basic medium is divided into natural medium and synthetic medium.

Synthetic Medium: This cell medium is simulated and synthesized by artificial method according to the type and quantity of substances needed for cell survival. At present, there are many kinds, such as RPMI-1640 and DMEM.

Cell Complete Medium: 90% synthetic medium +10% serum +1% double antibody.

RPMI-1640 Medium

RPMI stands for Roswell Park Memorial Institute, and RPMI is a class of cell culture media developed by the Institute, while RPMI 1640 is a more specific type of cell culture media.

Originally developed for the suspension or monolayer culture of human leukemia cells, RPMI-1640 medium has since been found suitable for a wide range of mammalian cells, including HeLa, Jurkat, MCF-7, PC-12, PBMC, astrocytes, and cancer cells. It is particularly suitable for the culture of suspension cells. RPMI-1640 medium is one of the most widely used media.

RPMI 1640 medium contains the reducing agent glutathione, high concentrations of vitamins, biotin, vitamin B12, and PABA, and high concentrations of vitamins inositol and choline. RPMI-1640 medium contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors; therefore, RPMI-1640 requires supplementation, usually with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS).

DMEM (Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium)

DMEM is based on Eagle’s minimum essential medium MEM, which is divided into two types: high glucose (containing 4500 mg/L glucose) and low glucose (containing 1000 mg/L glucose).

The low glucose type Eagle “s Minimum Essential Medium is suitable for dependent adherent cell culture, especially for tumor cell culture with a fast growth rate and poor adhesion.

High glucose DMEM is more suitable for high-density suspension cell culture and clonal culture with poor adhesion but does not want to be detached from the original growth point, it also can be used for hybridoma myeloma cells and DNA transfected transformed cell culture. For example, CHO cells express the production of the hepatitis B vaccine, and CHO cells express EPO.