I was wondering if anyone has experience with DU-145-cells. We just got a new bulk and they are in 2nd passage now and I was wondering whether they can be used already for experiments.
Usually, the rule of thumb is the earlier the passage for cell lines the better, as there is less evolutionary divergence from the original stock. You mention that these are passage number 2, but that is most likely in your hands. You must remember, that if you acquired the cells from others, or even purchased them, they have been passaged many times before, so they really are not "2" in the grand scheme of the cell line. So overall, yes, you can use them whenever, and you should also try to experiment with low passage numbers as much as possible to limit divergence. A step many labs perform is to grow up many flasks very early in the passages, and freeze down many tubes so you have lots of stocks at low passage numbers. This way, when your working cells get old, you can just thaw out a frozen vial and start again.
Hope this helps, and good luck.
~Adam
In PubMed, DU-145 gives about 1500 hit. Surely, a lot a work had already done.
These are immortal tumor cells. You can use them immediately but I advise freezing back aliquots early and go back to freezer stocks after a month or two in continuous culture. I prefer 90% serum and 10% DMSO and please freezer at least 2 million cells per 1.5 ml cryovial. Also be carefully in the freeze rate (you can get special containers to put directly in the -80C that controls the rate of freezing to avoid ice crystals). When you want to thaw cells you generally want alot of cells rapidly so freezing back higher numbers is advisable. Also, by going to early frozen stock you minimize the risk of mycoplasma and other contaminant that can occurs in long term passage of cells.
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