U87MG cells not growing well - (Nov/19/2012 )

I am trying to culture U87MG cells in DMEM,10%fbs,+antibiotics , however the growth pattern is extremely slow.It is taking over 7days to reach confluency..Kindly provide some helpful suggestion

Have you cultured these cells before and this is slow compared to before, or are you comparing to another cell line?

If the former, then throw them out and get up a fresh tube. You should be doing this every 10 passages or so anyway, as the growth rate and behaviour of cells changes with increasing culture time.

If the latter; different cell lines have different growth rates, some like Hela will grow extremely fast with doubling times of about 18-20 hours, while others might only double every 2-3 days.

Theoretical U87MG are tumor aggressive cells. Check for -Mycoplasma contamination
- add more cells at seeding
- use nuclear staining and check fluorescence to investigate the cells viability.
Other Suggestion- wash(fast) with solution of antibiotic.
Don't forget to be good mood, smile all the time, have nice music as ambient that may help.

My guess is Mycoplasma. We have a mycoplasma removal or elimination protocol available online if you want to treat your cells.
Better, discard them and start with a new batch.