Dynamic gas mixtures with adjustable O2 and CO2 concentration in cell cultures study0 pages
MCQ Gas Blender 100 Series
High Performance Gas flow Dilutor & Gas flow Mixing System with User Interface
www.mcqinst.com Gas Blender 100 Series Application Note 1/4
Dynamic gas mixtures applications
Working with static gas mixtures with fixed or adjustable
amount of CO2 represents now just the base of the cell
culture applications. Since the last two decades until today
many experiments have been successfully conducted with
gas mixtures dynamically obtained and many more
demands for instruments capable of controlling both O2 and
CO2 relative amounts in the culture atmosphere. Fine
control over the gas mixture allow those experiments, in
which an induced hypoxic, hyperoxic or hypercapnic state is
required, to be performed efficiently.
Introduction
Starting from the pioneering studies made in the early
1900’s, the cell culture process has been developed and
refined to become one of the most important and widely
used experimental method for the scientific research. The
growth of cells is a complex process that requires appropriate
and controlled conditions (such as pressure,
temperature, and system pH) to be achieved. A crucial role
is carried out by the gas mixture fluxed over the culture. The
instrument for the gas mixtures management must secure
high precision outcomes over the whole experiement
duration; high accuracy, great stability and high repeatability
are required. On the other hand it’s also important to work
with an instrument capable of creating gas mixtures
dynamically adjustable since variation of the conditions for a
particular cell type can result in gene/protein/enzyme
expression changes. For all these applications we propose
the use MCQ Gas Blender 100 Series, an instrument
specifically made to work with 3 components gas mixtures
that offers a quick and easy way to efficiently manage the
experimental condition of your cell culture.
Common experimental setup
One of crucial aspect of the grown of cells in vitro is the
complete control over the working parameters during the
entire process. Even if the cell culture applications may vary
widely from each other, growth medium represent one the
most important of these parameter. The medium used is
usually buffered with sodium bicarbonate/carbonic acid and
for a proper cell grown the pH value must be strictly
maintained constant. The amount of CO2 in the culture
atmosphere directly affects the medium pH, therefore the
control over the gas mixture in which cells are grown
becomes another fundamental process parameter. Due to
the low content of CO2 (<0,04%), the air isn’t a valid option
for cell culture. In most of the common applications the cells
are grown in an atmosphere of 5-10% CO2, inside special
CO2 incubators. The basic CO2 incubators make use of gas
mixture cylinders (pre-mixed by the supplier) in which the
amount of CO2 in the flow cannot be changed or adjusted
by the user. Newer and more advanced incubators include a
CO2 sensor for a feedback regulation of the the amount of
CO2 inside the chambers but are less common and more
expansive then the basic ones.
MCQ Gas Blender 100 Series Application:
Dynamic gas mixtures with adjustable O2 and
CO2 concentration in cell cultures study
Application Note