Tetracycline in cell culture media - (Oct/04/2006 )

I was wondering if tetracycline is normally used in cell culture media. I haven't come across tetracycline uasge much in cell culture media. Is it advisable to use tet in media? Thanks in advance.

people use it in cell culture when they r using tet-on/off system to express/inhibit something.

well its usually doxycycline.

agree with scolix...we use tetracycline in one of our cell lines that have been transfected. However, tetracycline is unstable at 37C and therefore needs to be replaced every 48 h in the media

As Calix and Casper said, Tetracyclin is generally used in Tet-on and Tet-off systems, for turning on or off the gene expression. Tetracyclin is not very stable in cell culture medium and not suitable for use in medium used for regular maintenance of cells.

Dox is a better activator, but is light sensitive. Not a big deal, if you can cover your plates or incubate in the dark.