I am currently culturing SH-SY5Y, and overall, the cells appear healthy and are proliferating well. However, I have consistently observed some extra structures or growths around the cells under the microscope (please see the attached images for reference).
These structures do not appear to interfere with cell morphology or growth, and the cells themselves are thriving, showing no signs of contamination or stress. Despite this, I am unable to clearly identify what these extra formations are, and they persist across passages.
I am reaching out to ask if anyone has observed similar structures in their SH-SY5Y cultures, or might have insights into what these formations could be.
Any suggestions or explanations would be greatly appreciated!
Those could be:
Extracellular Vesicles or Exosomes, Cellular Debris or Protein Aggregates
To check do the following:
Culture Control Media: Keep a dish with just media to watch for precipitates or growth.
Check at 10× and 40×: See if the particles are mobile (e.g., bacterial or fungal spores).
Nadeem Salman 3rd image is of 40x, and the particles are immobile. I have also checked culture control media and found no precipitates or growth.
Wei Zhou Yes, these structures still exist when I change another cell plate. Will you please explain what you mean by dissolving the cells?
Wow! That's amazing! I suspect that you might find a new organelle? In my college, a professor named Li Yu found a novel organelle, migrasome. I encourage you to explore more about these strange structures using such as IF staining technology.
Wish you good luck! Anjali Prajapat
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