CELL CULTURE PH CONTROL WITHOUT CO2 INCUBATOR
Control pH of the media on the bench
Inline sensor can be added to any setup
Less manual work and more accuracy for your experiments
Beginner friendly pack with detailed user guide
pH control without a CO2 incubator for dynamic cell culture
The importance of pH for cell culture
The homeostasis of pH is finely balanced in the body by a bicarbonate buffering system, creating a dynamic equilibrium between carbonic acid and carbonate, which, in turn, is regulated by the lungs and kidneys. The same buffering system is usually applied to cell cultures with a CO2 incubator that keeps CO2 at a predefined concentration.
Phenol red is the most common indicator of pH in cell culture media, and it is usually used as a visual cue of the culture’s development.
The microenvironment changes become more relevant when the cell culture is miniaturized to take advantage of the benefits of organ-on-a-chip technology. Even if slight variations in pH, e.g., 7.4±0.3, are tolerated in traditional cell culture, the pH changes faster in microfluidic cell culture due to the much higher cell volume to medium volume ratio, resulting in a more pronounced effect on cell viability. Thus, closer monitoring of crucial environmental parameters becomes more critical [1].
1. Lu, C. & Verbridge, S. S. Microfluidic methods for molecular biology. Microfluid. Methods Mol. Biol. 1–376 (2016). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30019-1
pH control without CO2 incubator pack setup
Aware of the importance of pH control in dynamic cell cultures, this pH control without a CO2 incubator pack was assembled to closely monitor cell culture pH in line and independently of the CO2 incubator. Assemble your setup at the bench or on the microscope stage for better data gathering.
This pack for pH control without a CO2 incubator is an all-included, user-friendly, customizable, and automatable perfusion pack. An all-in-one package from us guarantees good compatibility between the different instruments, allows you to start your experiment right away, is piloted by a single software, and can be used for other applications.
We also provide continuous and full customer support to fulfill your experiment goals.
A typical pack contains:
- OB1 MK4 pressure controller (Elvefow)
- An in-line pH sensor and flow cell compatible with microfluidic setups
- Several Eppendorfs or falcon reservoirs
- A flow sensor (MFS or BFS, Elvefow)
- Two 3/2 valves and a MUX wire (Elvefow)
- Bubble remover (optional)
- Accessories, including tubing and connectors
- A microfluidic chip, if needed
- Elveflow software
- User-friendly guides
This pack can also be combined with other microfluidic steps after the dynamic cell culture, for sequential injection of drugs for example.
pH control without a CO2 incubator
Most researchers rely on Phenol Red to assess the pH of cell culture and cell experiments. However, the same shade of Phenol Red can represent an entire pH point, which can be problematic since the dimensions of most organ-on-chip devices make small pH changes that significantly affect cells.
Due to the bicarbonate buffering system commonly employed in cell culture media, the pH of the cell culture is also tightly linked to the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The graph below illustrates the significant pH change of DMEM when exposed to different atmospheric concentrations of CO2.
This reliance on CO2 renders most dynamic cell culture setups dependent on the CO2 incubator, limiting the technology’s potential. For example, image gathering on a microscope requires unplugging the chip from the setup, which can cause contamination and air bubbles.
Live cell imaging is also limited as the device cannot remain outside ideal conditions, requiring specialized equipment. These limitations ask for a way to dynamically culture cells independent of the CO2 incubator.
Customize your pH control without incubator pack
This pack can be modified depending on your cell line (human, mammalian, plant, primary…) or your experiment conditions.
If you’re unsure about the instrument choices and settings best suited for your application, contact one of our experts!
Bubbles can be a problem for cells; the instrument pack can contain a bubble remover to tackle this issue efficiently.
Our experts can answer any questions about this pH control without an incubator pack and help you find out how it can match your specifications.
– Check our other Packs for various applications –
How can we help your experiment?
The packs applications are still under development, so we are not able to give you the tips or troubleshooting advice that we usually give in our user guides and application notes for the possible challenges you could face for a specific application experiment. That being said, we can always guarantee reliable and high-precision microfluidic flow control. Our microfluidic instruments are high-performance, versatile and user-friendly. Our experts will bring support and expertise during the setup and implementation of this sensor calibration pack.
Can a pack be customized based on my specific application?
Yes! Our experts will establish which instruments are best suited for your application, such as the type of flow sensor or the number of flow controller channels you need to perform your experiment. Send us a message:
Can I buy individual instruments?
You can order our instruments on the product section of our website.
Funding and Support
The Protomet, ALTERNATIVE and, LIFESAVER projects results helped develop this pH control pack, with funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 MSCA-ITN under grant agreement No 813873 (ProtoMet), the European Union under H2020-LC-GD-2020-3, grant agreement No. 101036702 (ALTERNATIVE project) and the European Union under H2020-LC-GD-2020-3, grant agreement No. 101037090 (LIFESAVER project).
