Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) is a synthetic

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

culture medium A growth medium or culture medium is a solid, liquid, or semi-solid designed to support the growth of a population of microorganisms or cells via the process of cell proliferation or small plants like the moss ''Physcomitrella patens''. Differe ...

developed by

Harry Eagle Harry Eagle (July 13, 1905 – June 21, 1992) was an American physician and pathologist. He was born in New York City then studied, and later worked, at Johns Hopkins University before moving on to the National Institutes of Health. From 1961 to 1 ...

first published in 1959 in ''Science'' that can be used to maintain cells in

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...

. It is based on 6 salts and

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...

described in Earle's salts in 1934: (

calcium chloride Calcium chloride is an inorganic compound, a salt with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature, and it is highly soluble in water. It can be created by neutralising hydrochloric acid with calcium hydroxide. Ca ...

, potassium chloride,

magnesium sulfate Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate (in English-speaking countries other than the US) is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula , consisting of magnesium cations (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions . It is a white crystalline solid, ...

, sodium chloride,

sodium phosphate Sodium phosphate is a generic term for a variety of salts of sodium (Na+) and phosphate (PO43−). Phosphate also forms families or condensed anions including di-, tri-, tetra-, and polyphosphates. Most of these salts are known in both anhyd ...

and sodium bicarbonate), supplemented with 13 essential

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

s, and 8

vitamin A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrie ...

thiamine Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin, an essential micronutrient, that cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosphorylated forms of thi ...

(vitamin B₁), riboflavin (vitamin B₂),

nicotinamide Niacinamide or Nicotinamide (NAM) is a form of vitamin B3 found in food and used as a dietary supplement and medication. As a supplement, it is used by mouth to prevent and treat pellagra (niacin deficiency). While nicotinic acid (niacin) may ...

(vitamin B₃),

pantothenic acid Pantothenic acid, also called vitamin B5 is a water-soluble B vitamin and therefore an essential nutrient. All animals require pantothenic acid in order to synthesize coenzyme A (CoA) – essential for fatty acid metabolism – as well as to, ...

(vitamin B₅), pyrodoxine (vitamin B₆),

folic acid Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

(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. Eagle developed his earlier "Basal Medium Eagle" (BME) in 1955–1957 on mouse

L cell Enteroendocrine cells are specialized cells of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas with endocrine function. They produce gastrointestinal hormones or peptides in response to various stimuli and release them into the bloodstream for systemic ef ...

s and human HeLa cells, 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". 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. The commercial versions of this medium have additional modifications, see an example in the table below. α-MEM (Minimum Essential Medium Eagle - alpha modification) is a medium based on MEM published in 1971 by Clifford P. Stanners and colleagues. 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. Glasgow's MEM (

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Minimal Essential Medium) is yet another modification, prepared by lan MacPherson and Michael Stoker.

Composition

One liter of each medium contains (in milligrams):

References

Cell culture media {{Cell-biology-stub

Composition

See also

References