Hypoxic Culture Conditions Mimic In Vivo Environment of Cells
The use of hypoxic, i.e. low oxygen, culture conditions for cell cultures is becoming more common as a means to more closely mimic in vivo conditions. Whereas physiological in vivo oxygen concentrations can range from 1% to 15%, most cell cultures are maintained in normal atmosphere oxygen conditions (~ 21% O2). However, the value of O2 control in addition to CO2 and temperature control has shown to e.g. heavily influence gene expression profiles and phenotypic changes. Hence hypoxic/ normoxic culture is increasingly applied in stem cell and cancer research, in toxicological studies, and in clinical-grade stem cell production.
While hypoxic conditions can easily be established using specialized incubators, the monitoring of cell cultures under hypoxic conditions has been extremely restricted until now. The CytoSMARTTM System overcomes this issue with its ability to allow continuous online monitoring of a cell culture under hypoxic culture conditions. With its small size (133 x 90 x 100 mm), the CytoSMARTTM Device fits into virtually any specialized incubator. Since the cell culture can be viewed via the CytoSMARTTM Cloud Solution, the monitoring of hypoxic or normoxic cultures becomes completely independent of the presence of the researcher in the lab.