Explant-Like Passaging of Cells Growing on Portable Substrata Permits the Avoidance of Enzyme Application and Facilitates the Passage Procedure

Abstract

The experiments presented in this paper show how growing cells on portable substrats can be useful to facilitate and accelerate the passaging (subculture) of anchorage-dependent cells. Experiments have shown that portable substrats are cheap, commercially available, and transparent. They are easily cut into various shapes and sizes, and are easy to sterilize. Portable substrats are also friendly to cells and permit faster than usual cell passaging procedures. Anchorage-dependent cells growing on the bottom of a culture vessel made of glass or polystyrene can be quickly passaged with previously-cut small fragments of glass fiber or nylon meshes or small fragments of polyester foil as well as nylon fishing lines and biodegradable surgeon threads that have been inserted into the vessel. The surfaces of such fragments of portable supports are quickly overgrown with cells and can be easily transferred to a new culture vessel. As with tissue explants, cells migrate and grow over the bottom of the new culture vessels. Using cell viability tests, analyses of proliferation and fluorescence microscopy, we confirmed the utility of the investigated substrats for cell culture. In addition, the passaging cells, together with a portable support (like explants), eliminate the need for an application of proteolytic enzymes which modify numerous cell properties and activities and would keep the cell from detaching from the substratum which would lead to the cell rounding and changes in the cell's cytoskeleton architecture.