It is a matter of critical importance in cell culture applications to choose the serum that would be sufficient for a particular cell type in terms of optimal growth and function. The most preferred source of culture medium for mammalian cells is Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). Many researchers, however, have been turning away from the use of this serum and changing their applications for other species, for example, horse serum, for moral, regulatory, and supply issues. It will be shown in this paper how to convert from FBS use to equine serum, the advantages of the method, and how the method is different between the two.
Why Prefer Horse Serum?
Horse serum is another commonly used alternative to FBS; it possesses very similar properties and thus has been responsible for the successful culture of nearly all mammalian cell types. Hence, horse serum is the product obtained from the blood of healthy horses and is one of the most common types used in many research and biomanufacturing applications.
Advantages of horse serum
Ethical aspects: Horse serum is generally collected from adult horses under harmless conditions, while that causing fetal bovine serum is derived from fetal bovine calves.
Cost: Horse serum costs less than FBS; very importantly for research, this may be a deciding factor in large-scale applications either industrial or research-based.
Regulatory: There are ever stricter applied regulations concerning the use of FBS in clinical environments. This would mean that it could also help the horse serum comply with animal welfare regulations while increasing the ethical standing of one's research.
Comparative Analysis Between Horse Serum and Fetal Bovine Serum
Fetal bovine serum (FBS) and horse serum enrich manufacturable culture media with nutrients for culturing cells. Growth factors, hormones, and necessary ingredients for culturing cells have been described as contained in each of these sera. Here are some critical differences between them:
Composition: Horse serum contains some proteins and growth factors in quantities that make it very suitable for some cell lines. Hence, compared to FBS, one can still say that Horse serum has a more or less balanced composition. Different compositions bring about differences in the behavior of cells in culture, hence the need to assess the impact of such a serum during that specific application.
Protein Content: The protein content of horse serum is higher than that of FBS, which helps to foster proper development and growth of cells. This higher protein content, however, may cause more variability and require more optimization while translating cultures from FBS to horse serum.
Risk of Contamination: Horse serum in cell culture is less likely to develop cross infections from bovine diseases, an important factor to consider when employing FBS for cultures.
The Process of Converting FBS to Horse Serum
Thus, here's the stepwise procedure of the changeover:
Identify the Hydration Requirement of the Cell Line: Each cell line has its condition-specific requirement. Hence, it's very important to check whether your cell line can survive in the horse serum or not, as some cells would survive in serum fatty acids. Still, there is some scope for checking growth, morphology, and behavior between these two serums.
Start Gradually: A quick switch may traumatize the cells, and for this reason, horse serum must be introduced gradually. It may start with a very small volume of horse serum in the total volume of 10% and then be increased to 90% DLS until the complete culture transition is done.
Adjustment of Incubation Conditions for Best Growth: Such changes are in incubation temperature, pH, or even incubation conditions themselves. Test the different changes and tell us how well the cells grow best optimally under that condition.
Monitor and Analyze: Careful monitoring of cell growth, morphology, and viability before and after switching. In addition, perform assays to measure the extension of growth rate and behavioral tests for cells in the presence of horse serum, compared with FBS, to see if adaptation was successful.
Final Statement
The FBS to horse serum switch would provide an almost effortless entry into ethical practice coupled with cost-cutting maintenance and little interference with cell growth. Certainly, horse serum is the reflective aspect of ethics, economics, and regulation. Understanding horse serum vs FBS and having a gradual changeover plan will yield optimized cell culture systems.
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