Cell Culture
UNIVERSITY OF LLEIDA CELL CULTURE SERVICE
Mammalian cell culture is the process or set of techniques that allow the growth of tissue fragments of different species in an artificial environment "in vitro" to examine and manipulate cell behavior, while maximizing its properties (physiological, metabolic, biochemical, genetics ...). In cell culture laboratories we work with the culture of cells that can come from immortalized cell lines or from primary cultures (obtained from tissues from mice raised in the barn for which purpose, human tissues, etc.).
The main characteristic, which defines the cell culture laboratory, is the maintenance of asepsis because the growth rate of the cells in culture is much lower than that of the usual contaminants (fungi, yeasts and bacteria). Therefore, for the maintenance of the culture it will be vital to avoid the appearance of any unwanted microorganism.
The Cell Culture Service (SCT-CC) is responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the different spaces and equipment intended to work with cell cultures, as well as training its users in good practices, preservation of asepsis and biosecurity, advising them if necessary, both in technical matters and in the design of some experiments.The service was set up in 1995. The aim was to offer this experimental support infrastructure to researchers and professionals in the scientific community. This service is open to users in the various departments of the University of Lleida and of the IRBLleida, and also to external users in other centres or companies.
The main objective of the Service is to make available fully equipped laboratories that specialize in tissue/cell culture; features that are difficult to find elsewhere.
This service offers the university community, and also other public or private institutions, the opportunity to cultivate all types of animal cells, primary cell cultures and established cell lines. The equipment in the service also enables one to employ several different techniques to characterize cells at the molecular and cellular level. Users can work in an independent mode or with the support of the technical staff.
The SCT-CC is located in the Biomedicine building, in the IRBLleida, next to the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital (HUAV), and comprises 7 cell culture laboratories and a cell cryopreservation zone with liquid nitrogen tanks.
- Laboratory of Lines: -1.3 and 1.9
- Primary Laboratory: 2.9 i 3.9
- Laboratory of delicate cultures (stem cells), long-lasting and free of mycoplasma and viruses: 2.16
- Crop laboratory for growing human sample cultures and lentivirus production: 3.16
- Dissection laboratory: 4.11
Basic equipment of the service: Laminar Flow Booths, Biosafety Booths IIA, hypoxia chamber, CO₂ Incubators, Inverted and fluorescence microscopes, Binocular dissecting loupe and fluorescent dissecting loupe, thermostatic baths, centrifuges.
Human resources
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Rosa Vaquera
Research support technician
Phone: 973 00 37 58
Office: -1.18
rosa.vaquera@udl.cat
