Insulin, transferrin and selenium.
Many labs take advantage of a medium supplement that is both necessary for healthy cell cultures, and saves time and effort. This cocktail consist of insulin, transferrin, and selenium, or as most of us know it, ITS (pronounced I-T-S). We already spoke about insulin so now we’ll talk about the other two: Transferrin and selenium.
Transferrin is a molecule that cells need in order to process iron, a critical mineral to cellular metabolism. As its name implies, transferrin’s role is essentially to transfer iron from the outside, to the inside of cells. It does this by first binding to iron, then to a cell’s transferring receptor, and helping it pass the cells’ membrane, via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Most cell biologists are familiar with two types of transferrin: Holo-transferrin, and apo-transferrin. APO-transferrin is not bound to iron molecules but willing and ready to do so in the cell culture dish, and if your cultures have serum in it, there will be plenty of Fe to go around. Holo-transferrin, is already bound to iron, and is used in cultures with low levels of iron as a supplement. This is especially important when you’re looking for transferrin for your serum-reduced or serum-free cultures.
Selenium is a trace element that essentially acts as an
anti-oxidant in our bodies. It has the same job in cell culture
environments. Most often sold as sodium selenite, this
mitochondria-saver is a critical component of ITS. While the
other two ingredients drive and promote metabolism, this one
keeps the metabolism-induced toxins down. When cells metabolize,
they generate reactive oxygen species, which is very damaging to
cells. Antioxidants like selenium help neutralize this reactive
oxygen and keep the cells healthy. Same thing for your
body, which is why I took it upon myself to search for foods high
in selenium. Can’t hurt. Ever since I saw a seminar on how
blueberry juice can help protect neural stem cells, I figured
there may be something to this whole “healthy food” thing. Here’s
what I found:
Brazil nuts are PACKED with selenium. Canned tuna and cod
also have a bunch of it. Then, as we go lower in selenium content
we see meats, pastas and sunflower seeds, followed by rice and
cheese. Finally, my super-sleuthing skills gave me even more
reason to clog my arteries: Bacon has the 8th highest selenium
content, according to these folks:
http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/foods-high-in-selenium.php
Gemini has all three of these components separately, or together in an ITS vial. Feel free to give them a call and request a sample. They’re happy to oblige! They won’t ship bacon samples, though. I asked.
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