MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX)

Description

Background

MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX) is a commonly used media for Mammalian cell culture.

Advantages

MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX) performs better than MEM for a number of cell lines, please see the description of regular MEM-α: MEM-α in Earle’s Buffer

The advantages of MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX) over MEM-α are:

• Higher PH Capacity
• Moreover, it contains 4 mM L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine (0.869 g/L) instead of L-Glutamine and therefore:
• Possess longer shelf life.
• More importantly, minimizes toxic ammonia build-up.
• Significantly improves cell viability and growth.
• Remains stable across a wide range of temperatures.
• Improves the culture of primary cells.

Mechanism

Although L-glutamine is a vital amino acid, it degrades, generating toxic ammonia and pyrrolidine carboxylic acid. One way to minimize L-glutamine degradation in media is to gradually add these amino acids to your cell culture. However, keeping track of time to keep the amount of L-glutamine at the same level is tedious, if not impossible.

Alternatively, L-alanyl-L-glutamine can be used because it is much more stable in aqueous solutions. More importantly, it does not easily degrade and gradually releases aminopeptidases. As a result, L-glutamine and L-alanine are then used by the cells for protein production in the TCA cycle.

In addition to our Max formulation products, we manufacture PurMa^TM GluaSup (Cat# P3S210 559), a combination of L-alanyl-L-glutamine that prevents the degradation of L-glutamine.

Contents

MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX) contains:

• 5 mM sodium pyruvate
• High glucose (4.5g/L)
• Non-Essential Amino Acids
• 3.7 g/L Sodium Bicarbonate; PurMa Biologics Manufactures several types of MEM-α-MAX based on the amount of Sodium Bicarbonate and HEPES (PH capacity)
• Phenol Red

MEM Alpha-Modification MAX in Earle’s Buffer (MEM-Alpha-MAX) contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors. Therefore, it requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal bovine Serum (FBS).

Formulation

The complete formulation can be found here: MEM-alpha-MAX Formulation in Earl’s Buffer

References

1. The growth of L-cells and Vero cells on an autoclavable MEM-peptone medium. L Keay Biotechnology and bioengineering, 19(3), 399-411 (1977-03-01).
2. Minimum essential medium alpha (MEM) enhances assisted reproductive technology results. I. Mouse embryo study. Wun WS, Wun CC, Grunert GM. J Assist Reprod Genet. 1994 Jul;11(6):303-7. doi: 10.1007/BF02215717. PMID: 7734915.
3. Alpha-minimum essential medium (MEM) enhances in vitro hatched blastocyst development and cell number per embryo over Ham’s F-10. Roudebush WE, Often NL, Butler WJ. J Assist Reprod Genet. 1994 Apr;11(4):203-7. doi: 10.1007/BF02211809. PMID: 7711383.