Hello,
Our lab is struggling with contamination despite taking every precaution necessary to maintain a sterile environment. The images shown are mature iPSC-derived neurons, but the contamination is also found in NPCs and neuroblastoma cells. We have had this contamination off and on since December, and it tends to occur every 4-5 weeks. For the NPCs and mature neurons we use media from Stemcell technologies and Anti-Anti. The neuroblastoma cells are in EMEM/F12, FBS, and pen-strep.
Can anyone identify what this contamination this is, and how we can fight it?
Thank you so much for your help!
The hairy structure is typical of fungi. You ahve to treat= sterilise your whole incubator, materials to remove spores that may have contaminated your cell lab.
fungi, if they are on fibroblasts. if you take several pictures within 1-2 weeks, you should see both hyphae and sporangia (these are where spores are formed).
mold (a type of fungus, but quite multicellular) if it is on endothelial cells.
If you want to get further curious, add 10 times more Pen/Strep. The cells will die, but the fungus/mold will remain.
You may also wish to clean your hood as well. But be careful if you use bleach on stainless steel and wipe it off immediately, as bleach can seriously corrode stainless steel. Also, check whether the contaminated cells are from the same freeze. If they are from the same freeze, I would discard all the cells from that freeze, or at least mark them as possibly contaminated.
hello
Your photos show contamination with fungal hyphae
sterilise your whole incubator, materials to remove spores that may have contaminated your cell lab .
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