Introducing Mammalian Cell Colony Formation in the Undergraduate Biology Laboratory ^†

Abstract

Clonogenic assays are a simple and robust method that allow researchers to characterize mammalian cell line features, including the ability of a single cell to grow into a colony. We have used this assay as a tool in the undergraduate biology laboratory, exposing students to a more specialized form of mammalian cell culture and helping them refine scientific research skills and knowledge. In this article, we share an easy and undergraduate-friendly method of using HeLa cells to carry out clonogenic assays. The methods described include the introduction of different treatments to assess their effect in HeLa cell colony formation. In this laboratory exercise, undergraduate students utilize different cell culture techniques such as growing, harvesting, counting, diluting, staining, and imaging cells.

Introducing Wound Healing Assays in the Undergraduate Biology Laboratory Using Ibidi Plates

“…It is critical for students to maintain a clean workspace using 70% ethanol and utilize a handwashing station before entering and exiting the lab. Details about the safety considerations and precautions can be found in a previous publication ( 3 ).…”

“…This might have been due to the fact that fisetin is known to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptotic cell death in several cancer cell lines. We chose cycloheximide and fisetin as our choices of treatment because these anticancer drugs showed promising effects in our clonogenic assays reported previously ( 3 ).…”

“…Wound healing assay results can be complemented with other phenotypic assays for cellular behaviors, such as invasion and colony formation assays ( 3 ). In addition to using this assay as a readout for a drug treatment, it can be used in the context of genetic inhibition or overexpression of genes of interest.…”

Internet-connected cortical organoids for project-based stem cell and neuroscience education

“…Tissue culture courses are challenging to implement because of the high costs of infrastructure and supplies associated with the course, as well as the danger of exposure of students to biohazardous materials (Bowey-Dellinger et al, 2017;Robinson et al, 2020). Indeed, the large majority of undergraduate biology students are not trained in cell culture during their education (Bowey-Dellinger et al, 2017).…”