Eagle's minimal essential medium

{{Short description|Type of synthetic cell culture medium}} thumb|Bottle of DMEM cell culture medium

'''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.<ref name="pmid13675766">{{cite journal| author=Eagle H| title=Amino acid metabolism in mammalian cell cultures. | journal=Science | year= 1959 | volume= 130 | issue= 3373 | pages= 432–7 | pmid=13675766 | doi= 10.1126/science.130.3373.432| bibcode=1959Sci...130..432E }}</ref> It is based on six salts and glucose described in Earle's salts in 1943: calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate. The medium is further supplemented with thirteen essential amino acids, and eight vitamins: thiamine (vitamin B₁), riboflavin (vitamin B₂), nicotinamide (vitamin B₃), pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅), pyrodoxine (vitamin B₆), folic acid (vitamin B₉), choline, and myo-inositol (originally known as vitamin B₈). Many variations of this medium have been developed, mostly adding additional vitamins, amino acids, and/or other nutrients.<ref name=yaohist>{{cite journal |last1=Yao |first1=T |last2=Asayama |first2=Y |title=Animal-cell culture media: History, characteristics, and current issues. |journal=Reproductive Medicine and Biology |date=April 2017 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=99–117 |doi=10.1002/rmb2.12024 |pmid=29259457 |pmc=5661806}}</ref>

Eagle developed his earlier "Basal Medium Eagle" (BME) in 1955–1957 on mouse L cells<ref name="pmid14381421">{{cite journal| author=Eagle H| title=The specific amino acid requirements of a mammalian cell (strain L) in tissue culture. | journal=J Biol Chem | year= 1955 | volume= 214 | issue= 2 | pages= 839–52 | doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)70932-0 | pmid=14381421 | doi-access=free }}</ref> and human HeLa cells,<ref name="pmid14392239">{{cite journal| author=Eagle H| title=The specific amino acid requirements of a human carcinoma cell (Stain HeLa) in tissue culture | journal=J Exp Med | year= 1955 | volume= 102 | issue= 1 | pages= 37–48 | pmid=14392239 | doi=10.1084/jem.102.1.37 | pmc=2136494 }}</ref> with 13 essential amino acids and 9 vitamins added. BME contains biotin (vitamin B₇), 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".<ref name="pmid13675766"/>

'''DMEM''' (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium) was originally suggested as Eagle's medium with a 'fourfold concentration of amino acids and vitamins' by Renato Dulbecco and G. Freeman published in 1959.<ref name="pmid13669362">{{cite journal|author=Dulbecco R, Freeman G|year=1959|title=Plaque production by the polyoma virus|journal=Virology|volume=8|issue=3|pages=396–7|doi=10.1016/0042-6822(59)90043-1|pmid=13669362}}</ref> The commercial versions of this medium have additional modifications, see an example in the table below.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=11885 - DMEM, low glucose, pyruvate (Formulation)|url=https://www.thermofisher.com/ch/en/home/technical-resources/media-formulation.48.html|access-date=2021-12-28|work=Thermo Fisher Scientific}}</ref>

'''α-MEM''' (minimal essential medium Eagle – alpha modification) is a medium based on MEM published in 1971 by Clifford P. Stanners and colleagues.<ref name="pmid5279808">{{cite journal| author1=Stanners CP| author2= Eliceiri GL| author3= Green H| title=Two types of ribosome in mouse-hamster hybrid cells | journal=Nat New Biol | year= 1971 | volume= 230 | issue= 10 | pages= 52–4 | pmid=5279808 | doi= 10.1038/newbio230052a0}}</ref> 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.<ref name=itw-amem>{{cite web|url=https://www.itwreagents.com/itwreagents_files/product_infos/A1913/en_GB.pdf|title=α-MEM|work=ITW reagents}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stemcell.com/alpha-mem-with-nucleosides.html|title=Alpha MEM with Nucleosides|publisher=Stem Cell Tech.}}</ref>

'''Glasgow's MEM''' (Glasgow minimal essential medium) is yet another modification, prepared by Ian MacPherson and Michael Stoker.<ref name=sa-gmem>{{cite web |title=Glasgow's Modified Eagle's Medium 51492C |url=https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/51492c?lang=en&region=US |work=Sigma-Aldrich |access-date=4 November 2018}}</ref>

== Composition ==

One liter of each medium contains (in milligrams):

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" ! Medium ! BME<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/21010046?SID=srch-srp-21010046|title=Basal Medium Eagle (BME)|work=Thermofisher}}</ref> ! MEM<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/11095098?SID=srch-srp-11095098|title=MEM|work=Thermofisher}}</ref> ! α-MEMa<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/12561049?SID=srch-srp-12561049|title=MEM α, no nucleosides|work=Thermofisher}}</ref> ! DMEM<ref name=":0" /> |- | Glycine||||||50 |30 |- | L-alanine||||||25 | |- | L-arginine hydrochloride||21||126||126 |84 |- | L-asparagine-H₂O||||||50 | |- | L-aspartic acid||||||30 | |- | L-cysteine hydrochloride-H₂O||||||100 | |- | L-cystine 2HCl||16||31||31 |63 |- | L-glutamic acid||||||75 | |- | L-glutamine||292||292||292 |584 |- | L-histidine||8||||31 |42 |- | L-histidine hydrochloride-H₂O||||42||42 | |- | L-isoleucine||26||52||52 |105 |- | L-leucine||26||52||52 |105 |- | L-lysine hydrochloride||36.47||73||73 |146 |- | L-methionine||7.5||15||15 |30 |- | L-phenylalanine||16.5||32||32 |66 |- | L-proline||||||40 | |- | L-serine||||||25 |42 |- | L-threonine||24||48||48 |95 |- | L-tryptophan||4||10||10 |16 |- | L-tyrosine disodium salt dihydrate||26||52||52 |104 |- | L-valine||23.5||46||46 |94 |- | Ascorbic acid||||||50 | |- | Biotin||1||||0.1 | |- | Choline chloride||1||1||1 |4 |- | D-calcium pantothenate||1||1||1 |4 |- | Folic acid||1||1||1 |4 |- | Niacinamide||1||1||1 |4 |- | Pyridoxal hydrochloride||1||1||1 |4 |- | Riboflavin||0.1||0.1||0.1 |0.4 |- | Thiamine hydrochloride||1||1||1 |4 |- | Vitamin B12||||||1.36 | |- | i-Inositol||2||2||2 |7.2 |- | Calcium chloride (CaCl₂, anhyd.)||200||200||200 |200 |- |Ferric nitrate (Fe(NO₃)₃·9H₂O) | | | |0.1 |- | Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄, anhyd.)||97.67||97.67||97.67 |97.67 |- | Potassium chloride (KCl)||400||400||400 |400 |- | Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃)||2200||2200||2200 |3700 |- | Sodium chloride (NaCl)||6800||6800||6800 |6400 |- | Sodium phosphate monobasic (NaH₂PO₄-H₂O)||140||140||140 |125 |- | D-Glucose (dextrose)||1000||1000||1000 |1000 |- | Lipoic acid|| || ||0.2 | |- | Phenol red||10||10||10 |15 |- | Sodium pyruvate|| || ||110 |110 |}

== See also == * RPMI 1640 (Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium), for lymph cells

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium}} Category:Cell culture media

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