HBSS vs PBS to deliver compounds to cells - (Jan/02/2008 )

Hi folks,

I am just wondering of the use of HBSS as opposed to PBS as solution to deliver compounds to cells? Is it because there is glucose in HBSS thus cells will be at least fed for a couple of hours longer than if PBS were to be used?

glucose is added to HBSS for reasons of osmotic pressure. if you compare the ingredients you will see that it contains far less salts than PBS.

but dont forget that different companies, labs or protocols may have different recipes for PBS and HBSS and there are actually methods where PBS with glucose is used. but as i said before glucose is added for density or osmotic reasons mostly and not as nutrition for the cells.

PS: i doubt that glucose alone will help the cells to survive longer in HBSS. if you want to incubate them for a long time when you deliver components to the cells why not use medium in the first place?

I would use normal media (media that is used to culture your cells) to deliver compounds.

Thank you folks! Delivery of compound will only last about 2 hours, so I think HBSS will be alright. I think the reason HBSS is used is because it's a simpler solution than media, since we will have to detect the compound using HPLC later on.