Mycoplasma Retention With Sartolab® RF Vacuum Filtration Units Application Note
Read time: 12 min | Authors: Helena Windsor, Florian Hebenstreit, Klaus Schöne
Overview
Preventing contamination with mycoplasma plays a crucial role when working with cell cultures in order to ensure accurate and reproducible results in experimental trials and production of biological targets. To minimize the risk of contamination, it is recommended to implement a number of measures, such as aseptic working, use of mycoplasma-free tested reagents and media, and regular mycoplasma testing. In addition, filtration of media prepared from dry media is an essential element in a prevention strategy.
Here, it was shown that the tested vacuum bottle-top filters Sartolab® RF with a pore size of 0.1 μm can effectively remove the mycoplasma strains A. laidlawii and M. hyorhinis. Cell culture media DMEM, F17, and RPMI + 10% FBS spiked with the respective mycoplasma strains were used to simulate typical conditions during filtration.
Key Takeaways
- In order to mitigate the contamination risk of cell cultures with mycoplasmas, various measures must be integrated into the workflow
- Sartolab® RF vacuum filters with a 0.1-μm PES membrane can effectively remove mycoplasmas from cell culture media
- To further minimize the risk of mycoplasma penetration through the filter, it is recommended to keep the differential pressure and media temperature as low as possible during filtration
Figure 1. Experimental Setup for Filtration of Challenge Suspension