Can Neurobasal Medium alone or Neurobasal Medium supplemented with B-27 supplement be frozen to extend product shelf life?
No, it is not recommended to freeze media due to the potential of precipitates forming upon thaw. Inorganic salts and amino acids in the formulation may come out of solution when exposed to temperature fluctuations. These precipitates will not go back into solution easily once formed.
Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.
What supplements should I use with Neurobasal or Neurobasal-A medium?
Neurobasal and Neurobasal-A media (for postnatal and adult neurons) allow for long-term maintenance of neuronal cells without the need for an astrocyte feeder layer. These media should be supplemented with either serum or a serum-free supplement, plus 0.5mM L-glutamine. B-27 supplement is a serum-free supplement that comes as a 50X concentrate in a 10ml volume. This is enough supplement for 500ml of media. Fetal, postnatal, and adult neural cultures can be grown in the appropriate Neurobasal medium supplemented with B-27 supplement .
We also have two other supplements. One is called G-5 and is for growth and expression of glial cells (normal and tumor) of astrocytic phenotype. This comes in a 1ml size, at a 100X concentration. The other supplement is called N-2 and is for growth and expression of post-mitotic neurons and tumor cells of neuronal phenotype. This comes in a 5ml size, at a 100X concentration.
For more information on Neurobasal media, search "Neurobasal" from our website home page.
Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.
Does the removal of phenol red from the Neurobasal Medium affect the culturing of neurons?
No, removal of phenol red from the Neurobasal Medium does not affect the culturing of neurons. Removal of phenol red allows culturing of neurons for studies involving certain receptors and downstream purification.
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When should I use the Neurobasal Medium, minus phenol red?
We recommend using Neurobasal Medium, minus phenol red for studies involving certain receptors, downstream protein purification or other processes where the presence of phenol red is undesirable.
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I understand that some media are worse than others for fluorescence imaging. How do I choose?
Most media contain phenol red, which can quench fluorescent dyes in the visible wavelengths. Most media also contain autofluorescent components, such as riboflavin, which can reduce signal-to-background. We offer FluoroBrite DMEM and HEPES-based Live Cell Imaging Solution, which have been optimized for fluorescent imaging. We also offer a number of media without phenol red. But if none of these are reasonable options for your experiment, then we also offer BackDrop Background Suppressor ReadyProbes Reagent, which can be added to quench media autofluorescence.
Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Analysis Support Center.
