Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) is a synthetic
cell culture medium developed by
Harry Eagle first published in 1959
in
''Science'' that can be used to maintain cells in
tissue culture. It is based on 6 salts and
glucose described in
Earle's salts
Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932.
Earle Brothers
The company was started in Hull in 1845 by two brothers, Charles and William Earle. The firm was made ...
in 1934: (
calcium chloride,
potassium chloride
Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
,
magnesium sulfate,
sodium chloride
Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35.45 g ...
,
sodium phosphate and
sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3−) ...
), supplemented with 13 essential
amino acids, and 8
vitamins:
thiamine (vitamin B
1),
riboflavin
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in ...
(vitamin B
2),
nicotinamide (vitamin B
3),
pantothenic acid (vitamin B
5),
pyrodoxine (vitamin B
6),
folic acid (vitamin B
9), choline, and myo-inositol (originally known as vitamin B
8).
Many variations of this medium have been developed, mostly adding additional vitamins, amino acids, and/or other nutrients.
Eagle developed his earlier "Basal Medium Eagle" (BME) in 1955–1957 on mouse
L cells
and human
HeLa cells,
with 13 essential amino acids and 9 vitamins added. BME contains biotin (vitamin B
7), which Eagle later found to be superfluous. His 1959 "Minimal Essential Medium" doubles the amount of many amino acids to "conform more closely to the protein composition of cultured human cells. This permits the cultures to be kept for somewhat longer periods without refeeding".
DMEM (
Dulbecco
Renato Dulbecco ( , ; February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian–American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncoviruses, which are viruses that can cause cancer when they infect anima ...
's Modified Eagle's Medium) was originally suggested as Eagle's medium with a 'Fourfold concentration of amino acids and vitamins' by
Renato Dulbecco
Renato Dulbecco ( , ; February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian–American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncoviruses, which are viruses that can cause cancer when they infect anima ...
and G. Freeman published in 1959.
The commercial versions of this medium have additional modifications, see an example in the table below.
α-MEM (Minimum Essential Medium Eagle - alpha modification) is a medium based on MEM published in 1971 by
Clifford P. Stanners Clifford may refer to:
People
*Clifford (name), an English given name and surname, includes a list of people with that name
*William Kingdon Clifford
*Baron Clifford
*Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
*Baron de Clifford
*Clifford baronets
*Clifford fami ...
and colleagues.
It contains more non-essential amino acids, sodium pyruvate, and vitamins (ascorbic acid (vitamin C), biotin, and cyanocobalamin) compared with MEM. It can also come with lipoic acid and nucleosides.
Glasgow's MEM (
Glasgow Minimal Essential Medium) is yet another modification, prepared by lan MacPherson and Michael Stoker.
Composition
One liter of each medium contains (in milligrams):
See also
*
RPMI 1640 RPMI 1640, also known as RPMI medium, is a growth medium used in cell culture. RPMI 1640 was developed by George E. Moore, Robert E. Gerner, and H. Addison Franklin in 1966 at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (formerly known as Roswell Park ...
(Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium), for lymph cells
References
Cell culture media
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