Hello,
Some culture media and dishes are called "endotoxin free", others are not...
Are the endotoxins really important for cell in vitro testing? Can endotoxin alter the behaviour of cells or their response to a drug?
Try to read
Nolte J. http://www.orfgenetics.com/media/PDF/University_of_Gottingen_flyer.pdf
Endotoxins come from bacteria- you do not want your media with bacterial products, you may be able to filter bacteria but its remnants still not good. That is why companies sell media endotoxin-free. It is for good science.
It will depend on what you measure and how much your system is sensitive. If you measure occupancy of the endotoxin receptor, you may be able to detect the presence of very small concentrations in very short time (instantly?). If you would measure IL levels in the cells that produce them, you may need couple of hours to see some effect. Endotoxin displayes also, as other ligands, dose dependent effects. In vivo 4mg LPS i.p. will kill a rat in a day, 1mg would do nothing. In vitro, if you have minute “doses” of LPS you may see just nothing. For number of the in vitro experiments you probably do not need "endotoxin free" dishes. For in vivo, as I said, you need much more to observe some effect.
Thanks for all your answers!
It help me understanding how important this parameter is for cell testing!
What are the best conditions to work in order to avoid endotoxins? I suppose that these conditions are the same than those for avoiding bacteria (laminar flow Hood, sterile PBS, media etc.). Are there any other conditions?
Is it possible to prepare yourself "endotoxin free" PBS or water? by filtration or UV radiation or something else?
It is almost impossible to work 100% endotoxin-free. I worked in vivo without all of this. Ask in vitro people or Sigma- Aldrich.
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