The 25mM glucose is a condition of diabetic i.e. hyperglycemic, then why it is used to culture the H9c2 cells normally? Why the normal concentration of glucose similar to body level like 5.5mM is not used normally?
Some cells require 25mM glucose to grow normally. For eg. pancreatic cell lines rarely survive or they grow rather slow in low (5 mM) glucose and usually require very high glucose (25 mM). The biggest problem is when glucose concentrations alter the behaviour of the cell but do not necessarily affect its growth in an obvious way. For eg if you grow a certain hepatic cell line in 25 mM glucose long term you will abolish their ability to produce glucose in response to pre-cursors, which is important as it relates to diabetes. They will grow perfectly but they will not respond properly with excess glucose around. Now if you grow the same line in low, physiological 5 mM glucose, they will maintain their phenotype over many passages.
I feel studies using cell lines provides a rapid screening tool to understand the intricacies at cellular level, without animal sacrifice. It need not translate in vivo.
Thank you chechi. Is any changes will occur in H9c2 cells if we grow it in 5.5 mM glucose? Whether we can assess myopathy in this cell line?
Never forget that culture conditions are not the same as in vivo. The most notable difference is the presence of hormones. The most important hormones related to sugar metabolism are insulin and glucagon. In vivo they are both present and fluctuate through the course of the day. I believe the current dogma is that it is the ratio insulin/glucagon that changes and elicits specific responses for the cells. But this is the view at the cell and tissue level. As you move up to organ and organ system levels, the picture gets way more complicated. For example, insulin sensitivity is markedly affected by other signaling factors such as adiponectin which is secreted by fat. I hope this adds to your thinking about how cell culture is distinct from in vivo properties. As the previous poster said, culture is best for pathway dissection and screening. You will usually end up in an animal model as your hypothesis evolves
Thank you Peter. Your suggestion are valuable. I wish to know whether any remarkable changes may happen to the cells if we grow them in low glucose condition? Also can we observe any mimicking changes relating to the myopathy, in cellular level?
I had grown H9c2 cells in both low glucose and high glucose media. I found that the growth rate was significantly reduced and also sometimes detachment of the cells from the tissue culture plate has taken place in low glucose medium.
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