Cell Cultures

When an order is received, a frozen ampule is usually recovered from liquid nitrogen on the following Thursday. The culture is inspected for growth and contamination and the medium is changed on Friday. The following Monday, the culture is inspected, the medium is removed, and the T25 flask is filled with fresh medium containing penicillin (100µg/ml) and streptomycin (100µg/ml), packed, and shipped. The flask is enclosed within two watertight plastic envelopes within a styrofoam box in a cardboard mailer to prevent leakage, overheating, or freezing during shipment. The only exception to this schedule occurs when a frozen biopsy is ordered. All requests for frozen biopsies will be reviewed for acceptance. If the order is to be filled, the biopsy will be recovered from liquid nitrogen, established in culture, and tested for contamination before it will be shipped. There will be a 2-month time period needed to process orders for biopsies.

Upon receipt, cell cultures should be placed in an incubator at 37°C or at the temperature specified on the shipping information sheet for a few hours or overnight without removing any medium to permit recovery from damage which may have occurred during shipment. It is suggested that the recipient store aliquots of cells in early passage in liquid nitrogen to assure that the entire culture is not lost as a result of contamination, artifacts associated with aging, or accidents.

Detailed instructions for culturing cells can be found on the sample detail pages or at:
FAQ - Lymphoblastoid Cell Cultures
FAQ - Fibroblast Cell Cultures

Cell cultures can be maintained with or without antibiotics, according to the preference of the receiving laboratory.

Frozen ampules are not shipped because experience has shown much better success in shipping freshly recovered growing cultures.

DNA samples are recovered from storage at -70°C and shipped on Mondays and Wednesdays at ambient temperature. Recipients should centrifuge the vials prior to opening. Continued storage at -70°C is recommended to maintain the integrity of the DNA.

DESCRIPTIVE DATA

Each shipment includes a packing slip and general information about cell cultures or a listing of DNA concentrations. Specific details for each cell line or DNA sample and pertinent reference citations (if available) can be printed from the Coriell Web Catalog at (http://ccr.coriell.org). Search the catalog by using the catalog number.