Regularly examining the morphology of the cells in culture (i.e., their shape and appearance) is essential for successful cell culture experiments. In addition to confirming the healthy status of your cells, inspecting the cells by eye and a microscope each time they are handled will allow you to detect any signs of contamination early on and to contain it before it spreads to other cultures around the laboratory. Learn how to inspect the cell morphology of the cells in a cell culture in this brief presentation with visual cell culture examples. More best practices can be found in the Gibco Cell Culture Basics handbook http://owl.li/dgXMU

1. Cell Morphology
8/27/2012
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2. Regularly Examine Cells for Morphology
Regularly examining the morphology of the cells in culture
(i.e., their shape and appearance) is essential for
successful cell culture experiments.
 This examination will help:
− Detect any signs of contamination early on and to contain it before
it spreads to other cultures around the laboratory.
− Identify signs of deterioration in cells include granularity around
the nucleus, detachment of the cells from the substrate, and
cytoplasmic vacuolation.
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3. Cell Deterioration
 Deterioration may be caused by:
− Contamination of the culture
− Senescence of the cell line
− Presence of toxic substances in the medium
− Culture needs a medium change
 Allowing the deterioration to progress too far will make it
irreversible.
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4. Cell Morphology Categories
 Most mammalian cells in culture can be
divided in to three basic categories based on
their morphology. Fibroblastic
− Fibroblastic (or fibroblast-like) cells are bipolar or
multipolar, have elongated shapes, and grow
attached to a substrate. Epithelial-like
− Epithelial-like cells are polygonal in shape with
more regular dimensions, and grow attached to a
substrate in discrete patches. Lymphoblast - like
− Lymphoblast-like cells are spherical in shape and
usually grown in suspension without attaching to a
surface.
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5. Cell Morphology: Example A
Phase contrast images of healthy 293 cells in adherent culture. The cells
were plated at a seeding density of 5 × 104 viable cells/cm2 in 293 SFM II
medium and grown as a monolayer in a 37°C incubator with a humidified
atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. The images were obtained using 10X and
20X objectives (panels A and B, respectively) 4 days after plating.
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6. Cell Morphology: Example B
Phase contrast images of healthy 293 cells in adherent culture. The cells
were plated at a seeding density of 5 × 104 viable cells/cm2 in 293 SFM II
medium and grown as a monolayer in a 37°C incubator with a humidified
atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. The images were obtained using 10X and 20X
objectives (panels A and B, respectively) 4 days after plating.
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7. More Cell Culture Information
 Visit the Life Technologies website to learn more about
the basics of cell culture http://owl.li/dgWEh
 Watch a webinar about the basics of cell culture.
http://owl.li/dgWPe
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