Synchronization of cell cultures (lecture)

Summary Most biomedical investigations arecarried out on cells in vitro. Cells are used as a biological model in scientific research, for elucidation of the mechanisms of cell differentiation and proliferation, adaptation, aging, biological mobility, malignant transformation in drug testing. The term "cell culture" defines a population of genetically homogeneous cells growing under constant conditions in a special nutrient medium under control of temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide level. Cell cultures are numerous, diverse, accessible, relatively easy to cultivate. It is easy to control external conditions and expose cell cultures to isolated stimuli; cell cultures may be analyzed with a rich panel of methods. To study metabolic processes 2 during cell cycle division, it is necessary to have cell suspensions dividing simultaneously. Synchronization of the fission of any cell population is possible by various artificial methods. The article presents a number of techniques that allow to achieve synchronization of cells at different stages of cell cycle.