Mycoplasma: Detection & Elimination
Mycoplasma in Cell Culture
Contamination of cell lines with mycoplasma is a widespread and often underestimated problem. Although visible signs like turbidity or pH-changes are rare, mycoplasma infections can cause a number of cellular alterations, ranging from a decelerated growth rate and altered immunological properties to metabolic and morphologic changes. The consequences of mycoplasma contaminations are serious, with regard to scientific methods like any kind of cell-based assay as well as in terms of health risks for humans and animals.
Detection
PanReac AppliChem’s PCR Mycoplasma Test Kits enable identification of mycoplasma-contaminated cell cultures - fast and effective! The PCR technique allows highly sensitive detection of both, cultivable and non-cultivable mycoplasma species. Reproducible results are provided within hours, making PCR the method of choice for frequent routine testing.
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PCR Mycoplasma Test Kit |
20 Tests |
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A8994 | PCR Mycoplasma Test Kit II | 50 Tests | |
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A9019.0025 | qPCR Mycoplasma Test Kit | 25 Tests |
Elimination
The easiest way to eliminate mycoplasma is to autoclave the contaminated cells together with any bottle of medium and solution used with this relevant culture. Don’t forget subsequent cleaning and disinfection of surfaces, hoods, incubators, pipettors etc. - or better, the whole lab! Make sure that other cell lines are not infected as well!
Since efforts and costs are both high, cleaning up a contaminated culture by anti-mycoplasma treatment only makes sense in case of very valuable or irreplaceable cultures – and if the potential source of mycoplasma is banished from the laboratory.
Despite assured resistances, the most reliable and efficient treatment of mycoplasma contaminations is the addition of suitable antibiotics, such as quinolones, tetracyclines and macrolides.
Besides the traditional mycoplasma-eliminating agents Myco-1 & 2 (tiamulin and minocycline) and Myco-3 (ciprofloxacin), PanReac AppliChem now offers a new solution for effective and permanent removal of mycoplasma species from cell culture: Myco-4 provides a broad spectrum of activity (including any type of mycoplasma, acholeplasma, spiroplasma and entomoplasma) combined with very low cytotoxicity and a low resistance risk due to an initial biophysical mode of action.
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Myco-1 |
10 ml |
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Myco-1 & 2 Set |
1 Set | ||
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Myco-2 |
10 ml |
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Myco-3 |
10 ml | ||
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Myco-4 | 2 Kit |