I have fetal bovine serum expired from many years ago but it kept at -200C during all this period and did not expose to cycles of freezing and thawing. So, can i use it for cell culturing?
In addition, during heat inactivation of this serum, i should firstly leave it at room temperature until completely thawing then inactivate at 560 C for 30 min or i can thaw it at 370C before inactivation.
Thanks in advance.
You can use expired fetal bovine serum but I suggest you test it on a flask of cells before supplementing a large amount of culture medium.
Referring to heat inactivation, both procedures are just fine.
If it was stored at -80 degree then I would have suggested you to use it with confidence, but it was at -20 degree, I would recommend to try it with small flask of cells upto 2-3 cycles. If it does not harm your cells health, go with it.
For heat inactivation, you may follow any of the protocol which allow to thaw at RT.
Hello, Aliaa!
You can use an expired serum if the storage conditions are followed.
For thaw, you can leave the serum at RT or at 37 °C
Thanks for your recommendations.
I will try it, I hope it works well.
I think it is OK,
you can use it. I performed like this before and work well.
I recommend that the serum can thaw at 37 °C
A product's shelf life refers to the length of time you can expect a product to act as expected and stay safe to use. Once your products have expired, they lose their effectiveness. Of course, the storage conditions like 4-8°C, -20°C and/or -80°C may show up differences in the product effectiveness.
As you mentioned that the bottle of serum expired many years ago (leaving the original expiry date for readers imaginations) but kept at -20°C, if the bottle was never opened, I would first check it its effectiveness on a cell culture while making sure that all the other cell culture reagents are the best to your knowledge. If you see any issues with the growth and morphology of the cells in culture, then you throw the blame on the expired serum you used.
For heat inactivating serum, thaw it at RT or at 37 °C. If ur not in an urgency to use it, I would leave it at 4°C before bringing it to RT.
- Badges
- Science topic