cell density and growth - (May/19/2010 )

Hi, everyone,

Does anybody know why cells do grow slowly with very low cell density, but grow faster with more cells in the culture? Any response will be greatly appreciated.

yuer on May 19 2010, 10:41 PM said:

Please help me!

When I've worked with primary neuronal cultures, the cells grew better in higher densities or around glial cells as there was a release of growth factors. One must keep in mind that cells decide their "behavior" based on their environment- i.e. waste products present, growth factors in the media, etc.

Simply put, cells to like to be around "friends" but not on top of their friends, unless they are cancerous.

I'm not sure what cell line you have, but that could be the reason for the difference in growth that you are observing with the different densities.

Hope that helps!

labrat612 on May 20 2010, 06:46 AM said:

This is correct hence the use of feeder cells for stem cell work Conditioned medium works in a similar fashion..

labrat612 on May 20 2010, 10:46 AM said:

Hi, labrat612 and bob1,

Thank you both so much for the very useful information. I am working on yeast cells. I was wondering if all cells grow better in higher densities because they release something to the environment such as growth factors. Do you guys know what other kind of environment changes when cells grow in higher densities?

Thanks again

yuer on May 19 2010, 06:41 PM said:

yuer on May 22 2010, 06:29 PM said:

In that case, I presume you mean the S shaped growth curve you see when plotting absorbance vs time. I think you will find that the yeast are still dividing at the same rate no matter the density, it is just that absorbance is proportional to log of density (or something like that).