Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Apr 1;37(4):802-805.
doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.01.027. Epub 2025 Mar 12.

Seeing the world through the eyes of cultured cells

Joycelyn Tan  1 , Guy B Kunzmann  2 , Sam Virtue  3 , Jason R Cantor  4 , Daniel J Fazakerley  5
Affiliations
Review

Seeing the world through the eyes of cultured cells

Joycelyn Tan et al. Cell Metab. .

Abstract

The metabolic environment experienced by cultured cells often differs from physiological conditions. Here, we highlight the effects that the microenvironment can have on cultured cell behavior and advocate for researchers to re-evaluate culture practices to enhance the relevance and translational potential of in vitro studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests J.R.C. is an inventor on an issued patent for Human Plasma-Like Medium assigned to the Whitehead Institute (application number: PCT/US2017/061377; patent number: 11453858).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A, Proposed workflow for continuous optimization of cell culture models. B, Comprehensive reporting of various cell culture parameters can help to improve experimental reproducibility.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eagle H. Nutrition needs of mammalian cells in tissue culture. Science (1979) 1955;122:501–504. ASSET/102AEF74-7CDA-4D68-85CF-7CB74B5977D2/ASSETS/SCIENCE.122.3168.501.FP.PNG. - PubMed
    1. Else PL. The highly unnatural fatty acid profile of cells in culture. Prog Lipid Res. 2020;77:101017. - PubMed
    1. Ichi I, Kono N, Arita Y, Haga S, Arisawa K, Yamano M, Nagase M, Fujiwara Y, Arai H. Identification of genes and pathways involved in the synthesis of Mead acid (20:3n − 9), an indicator of essential fatty acid deficiency. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 2014;1841:204–213. - PubMed
    1. Okuno T, Gijón MA, Zarini S, Martin SA, Barkley RM, Johnson CA, Ohba M, Yokomizo T, Murphy RC. Altered eicosanoid production and phospholipid remodeling during cell culture. J Lipid Res. 2018;59:542–549. doi: 10.1194/jlr.M083030. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pekkurnaz G, Trinidad JC, Wang X, Kong D, Schwarz TL. Glucose Regulates Mitochondrial Motility via Milton Modification by O-GlcNAc Transferase. Cell. 2014;158:54–68. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.06.007. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources