Our lab usually cultures T cells in flat or round bottom 96-well plates. I don't think these plates are good for pelleting the cells and changing media. I was wondering if I can culture my T cells in V-bottom 96-well plates, so that changing media is easier. However, I don't know if this will change the T cells' access to CO2, their proliferation rate, or influence their phenotype in a way that influences my experiment.
My T cells are activated with CD3/CD28 coated Dynabeads and subjected to various manipulations over 7 days.
Thank you!
Hello Yifei Hu
Yes, you are right. Upon culturing cells in V-bottom 96-well plate, the cells will naturally localize towards the middle and at the bottom of the plate. This will limit the possibility of mass transfer in respect to the cells access to nutrients and oxygen resulting in an increase in cell death with decreased cell activity. This in turn may influence your experiment. The discrete surface geometry of the
V-shaped well will not suit the purpose (namely to culture T cells) in comparison to the flat or round bottom wells. So, I recommend you to keep using the flat or round bottom 96-well plates.
I also agree with you that flat or round bottom 96-well plates are not good for pelleting the cells and changing media. But if you master the skill in pipetting, I am sure you will be able to work with these plates.
Good Luck.