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Protocols: ES Cell Culture - Gene Targeting - Protocols

1.	Preparation of Feeder Layers And SNL Stocks





1.1.	Gelatinizing Plates

Prepare plates by covering surface with 0.1% Gelatin solution:



	Plate Size (cm)	Amount of Gelatin (ml)

	3	2

	6	4

	10	9

	15	18



Swirl the plates to cover the entire surface.  Allow plates to gel 

@ room temp. for at least 2 hours.  Aspirate off all of the gelatin 

directly before using the plates.





1.2.	Feeder Layers



Use the 15 cm stock plates to make feeders.



	1.	Remove 12 mls of the media from each plate.



	2.	Add 360 ul Mitomycin C stock solution to each plate and 

            swirl to cover surface.



	3.	Incubate @ 37o C for 2 hours.



	4.	After incubation, aspirate off all of the media and wash 

            the cells twice with PBS, 5-10 ml per wash (enough to cover 

            the surface).  Aspirate off all of the PBS.



	5.	Add 2 ml of Trypsin to each 15 cm plate.  Swirl to cover 

            the entire surface.  Incubate @ 37o C for 5 minutes.



	6.	Add 5 ml of media (7% FCS, 1X GPS) to each plate to 

            inactivate the trypsin.  Suspend the cells by pipetting 

            up-and-down and transfer the suspension to sterile 15 ml 

            centrifuge tubes.  Repeat the suspension process, pooling 

            all of the suspensions into the 15 ml tubes, until all of 

            the cells have been harvested.  (You should be able to pool 

            suspensions from two 15 cm plates into one 15 ml tube.)



	7.	Spin the tubes for 7 minutes @ 1,000 rpm.



	8.	Carefully aspirate off the supernatant.  Do not touch the  

            cell pellet.  Tap each tube gently to break up the pellet.



	9.	Add 5 ml of media to each tube and resuspend the cell pellets.  

            Vigorously pipette up-and-down to insure a good 

            suspension.  Finally, pool all of the suspensions 

            into one 50 ml tube.  It is imperative that the 

            total volume of media added to resuspend the cells 

            be recorded; that value will be used later in calculations.



	10.	Transfer 200 ul of the cell suspension to a plastic vial 

            and add 10 ml PBS or Isoton II.   Count the cells using the 

            Coulter Counter.



		Calculating the Cell Number (only relevant if the 

            counter is set to count a 0.5 ml sample):



		The Coulter Counter will display "XXXXX", which

			= "X,XXX,X00 cells/ml"

			= "X.X x 106 cells/ml"



		To calculate the total number of cells, multiply 

            "X.X x 106 cells/ml" by the volume from which the 200 ul 

            aliquot was taken (see step 9).



	11.	We require 3.5 x 105 cells/ml.  Therefore, in order to 

            reach this cell density, you must calculate the volume 

            of media into which the cells will be added.  To do this, 

            divide the total cell number by 3.5 x 105 cells/ml.



		Example:



		After centrifuging my cells and aspirating off the media,  

            I have 3 cell pellets to resuspend.  Therefore, I use a total 

            of 15 ml of media to resuspend the 3 pellets.  I then count 

            a 200 ul aliquot of the suspension, and the Coulter Counter 

            displays 6 9 5 7 9



			= 6,957,900 cells/ml



			= (6.9 x 106 cells/ml)  x  15 ml (total 

                     volume used to resuspend cells)



			= (1.035 x 108 cells total)  /  (3.5 x 105 cells/ml)



			approx. = 296 ml media needed



	12.	Once you have determined the required volume of media, add 

            the cell suspension to that volume of media and shake 

            to uniformly distribute the cells.



	13.	Check to see if the proper cell density has been reached  

            by taking a 200 ul aliquot of the media and counting as 

            before.  However, when calculating the total cell number, 

            be sure to use the total volume of media to which the cells 

            were added.



		Example:



		From the previous example, we calculated that 296 ml of 

            media was needed to reach the required cell density.  Upon 

            recounting to check the density, the Coulter Counter 

            displayed 0 4 3 5 8



			= 435,800 cells/ml



			= (0.43 x 106 cells/ml)  x  296 ml (total volume to  

                     which cells were added)



			= (1.2728 x 108 cells total)  /  (3.5 x 105 cells/ml)



			approx. = 364 ml media needed



		If the total cell count is still too high to give the  

 desired density, add the determined amount of media that will dilute 

 the cells to the proper density (i.e., the difference between the 

 volume of media needed for the first count and the volume 

 needed for the second count).



		Example:



		From the second determination above, we found that 

            364 ml of media is needed to obtain the desired cell 

            density.  Since we have already added 296 ml of media, 

            we need only add another 68 ml.



			364 ml  -  296 ml = 68 ml of media to be added



	14.	Once the required cell density (3.5 x 105 cells/ml) has 

            been reached, aliquot the prepared Feeder Media into the 

            size and numbers of feeder plates needed (remembering to 

            use plates that have been pretreated with the gelatin).  

            Swirl the plates to uniformly distribute the cells.



	Size of Plate (cm)     Amount of Media to Aliquot (ml)

	 	15	                30

		10	                12

		6	                 4

		3 (or 6-well)          2

		24- or 4-well          0.5



	15.	Place the feeders in the 37o C incubator, labelling the tray 

            with "Feeders" and the date.





SNL (STO-Neo-LIF) Stocks





Use a confluent 10 cm plate to prepare stock plates.  Gel 15 cm 

plates for the stocks and one 10 cm plate for the passage plate.



	1.	Aspirate off all of the media and wash the cells twice with 

            PBS, 4-7 ml per wash (enough to cover the surface).  Aspirate 

            off all of the PBS.



	2.	Add 0.8 ml Trypsin to the plate; swirl to cover the 

            entire surface.  Incubate @ 37o C for 5 minutes.







	3.	Add 10 ml of media to the plate to inactivate the trypsin.  

            Vigorously pipette up-and-down to suspend the cells.



	4.	Determine the total volume of media that will be needed for 

            the stock plates based on the following:



		Size of Plate (cm)     Amount of Media to Aliquot (ml)

			15	                     30

			10	                     12



	5.	Add the cell suspension to the required volume of media.  

            Shake the bottle to insure a uniform distribution of cells.



	6.	Aliquot the STO-Neo Media into plates in the volume specified 

            for each size of plate (see step 4).  Remember to use plates 

            that have been pretreated with gelatin.



	7.	Place the stock plates in the 37o C incubator, labelling 

            the tray with the clone number (e.g., SNL 76/7), the passage 

            number, and the date.





NOTE:	The 15 cm plates will be used upon confluence to prepare the feeder 

plates.  The one 10 cm plate will be used to maintain the cell line through 

a number of passages.