We would like to reduce the usage of Fetal bovine serum (FBS) in some cell lines in our lab both to reduce the cost and the suffering of the animals. So, instead of using the standard 10%, we would like to use 5% or somewhere in between. We might do a small comparison study using different percentages of FBS and check viability, doubling time/ proliferation, and maybe some common markers. But worried the effects might be more than that. So, I was wondering if anyone has tried 5% FBS before, what effects have you noticed? What is your opinion about it?
All answers are appreciated!
Hello Fikirte Debebe Zegeye
You can go down to 8% FBS and not beyond. Lower serum concentration in culture medium could lead to visible changes which could be observed in culture after 24 hrs. After day 2 in culture, higher number of rounded and floating cells will be visible which is an indication that the cells are under stress and might be dying.
The cell viability will be significantly lower starting from day 1 in culture. Reduced serum can cause apoptosis‐induced cell death in culture. It can dysregulate different cellular signaling pathways, which might affect the expression of different cellular proteins. So, I would not recommend 5% FBS in cell culture.
Best.
We use both 10% or 5% FBS for cell culture media.
Some cells require 10%, mostly for hard to culture cells or slow-growing cells (like some epithelial cells or primary cells etc.).
But some cells (fast-growing cells, some cell lines etc.) like mesenchymal cells, fibroblast cells we use 5% FBS containing culture media. We do not face any issues. However, when you are thawing frozen cells, you might need to culture them in 10% FBS-containing media, and regular maintenance after establishing, you start using 5% FBS-containing culture media.
For cell lines using less than 10% FBS is a good choice. I personally have tried 5% and i even noticed increase in cells growth while I was trying 5% to reduce the growth of cells.
Thank you Haroon Khan Enkhtuya Radnaa Malcolm Nobre for your answers. It is very helpful to read your experiences and suggestions.
It will depend on the cell type. Some need 10% FCS, for others less like 5% or even only 2% works just as well or even better (as Haroon Khan mentions above).
Many established cancer cell lines can even be cultivated in a serum-free and xeno-free medium like our Cancer Cell Line Medium XF:
https://promocell.com/product/cancer-cell-line-medium-xf
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