When you’re scaling assays, running transfections, or maintaining robust cell banks, baseline medium quality determines how much variability creeps into your results. Celhappy DMEM (High Glucose, 4.50 g/L)—available from CoPure—follows the classical Dulbecco’s recipe optimised for fast-growing, adherent cell lines and routine lab workflows, while keeping the formulation details your SOPs care about: buffering, additives, sterility, storage, and shelf life.
Below is a practitioner-grade overview with usage guidance and evidence-based notes to help you deploy Celhappy DMEM confidently across lines like HeLa, HEK293, COS-7, primary fibroblasts, neurons, glia and smooth muscle cells.
What’s inside (and why it matters)
Core formulation (High Glucose DMEM)
D-Glucose: 4.50 g/L (≈25 mM). Supports higher ATP demand of rapidly dividing or metabolically active cells; the original low-glucose DMEM is 1.0 g/L.
L-Glutamine: included. Primary nitrogen donor for nucleotide and amino acid synthesis—essential but chemically unstable in solution (see Best Practices).
Sodium pyruvate: included. Auxiliary carbon source and ROS scavenger that can enhance robustness under stress.
Phenol red: included. Convenient pH indicator; may confound hormone-sensitive readouts (see Assay Considerations).
HEPES: not included. Reduces light-induced cytotoxic risk and keeps buffering simple under CO₂/bicarbonate control.
Buffering system and pH control
Liquid format includes sodium bicarbonate ~3.7 g/L, designed for CO₂ incubators; powder format is supplied without sodium bicarbonate (add per your SOP). Most labs operate 5–7% CO₂; with 3.7 g/L NaHCO₃, vendors commonly specify 5–10% CO₂ to maintain physiological pH 7.2–7.4.
Expect minor lab-to-lab differences: at 5% CO₂, DMEM can initially read slightly alkaline; lactate/CO₂ from growing cells typically normalises pH during culture.
Formats, storage & logistics
Celhappy DMEM (High Glucose) is available in two formats:
Dry Powder
Non-sterile (requires sterilisation after reconstitution)
Glucose: 4.50 g/L
No HEPES
Contains sodium pyruvate
Contains phenol red
Contains L-glutamine
No sodium bicarbonate (must be added per SOP)
Transported at 2–8 °C
Store at 2–8 °C, protected from light
Shelf life: 24 months from date of manufacture
Liquid
Aseptically filtered (sterile)
Glucose: 4.50 g/L
No HEPES
Contains sodium pyruvate
Contains phenol red
Contains L-glutamine
Includes sodium bicarbonate (3.70 g/L)
Transported at 2–8 °C
Store at 2–8 °C, protected from light
Shelf life: 12 months from date of manufacture
Typical QC benchmarks for DMEM high glucose place pH ~7.0–7.6 and osmolality ~320–360 mOsm/kg; verify lot COA and record in your media prep log.
Where this medium shines
Fast-growing adherent lines: HeLa, HEK293 and COS-7 frequently show reliable growth in DMEM (HG) with serum supplementation (e.g., 10% FBS).
Primary cells and mixed cultures: Frequently used for primary fibroblasts, neurons, glia, smooth muscle with appropriate serum/supplement regimes.
Transfection and production runs: High energy availability and pyruvate can support demanding processes; monitor lactate/acidification in dense cultures.
Reminder: DMEM contains no growth factors or proteins—supplement with serum or defined factors per cell line guidance.
Assay considerations (so you don’t chase artefacts)
Phenol red
Great for quick pH checks, but it exhibits weak estrogenic activity and has been shown to influence estrogen receptor–sensitive models (e.g., MCF-7); use phenol-red-free medium for endocrine assays or sensitive fluorescence readouts.
HEPES
Although useful for extra buffering outside CO₂ incubators, HEPES can generate phototoxic species under visible/fluorescent lighting and may alter cellular responses; if you add HEPES, minimise light exposure during handling and imaging.
CO₂ / HCO₃⁻ balance
For bicarbonate-buffered DMEM, maintain 5–7% CO₂ as your default. Some formulations and plate formats benefit from fine-tuning towards ~10% CO₂ to centre pH at 7.4; validate by measuring medium pH after equilibration at 37 °C in your incubator.
Best-practice handling to protect cell performance
- Glutamine management
L-glutamine spontaneously degrades, producing ammonia; degradation accelerates with time, temperature, and pH. Keep media cold and limit warm exposure. For long cultures, some labs switch to stable dipeptide glutamine (e.g., L-alanyl-L-glutamine).
- Pyruvate usage
- The included 1 mM sodium pyruvate (typical DMEM level) offers an alternate energy route and ROS scavenging, which may be beneficial during oxidative or cryo-related stress.
- Light exposure
- Protect media from light to reduce photodegradation of vitamins (e.g., riboflavin) and minimise photoactivation of buffers that can yield reactive species.
- CO₂ equilibration
- After thawing or preparing fresh medium, allow ~30–60 minutes inside the incubator for CO₂/HCO₃⁻ equilibration before seeding; confirm pH visually (phenol red) or with a meter if your assay is pH-sensitive. (General CO₂ buffering guidance.)
- Serum strategy
- Start at 10% FBS for many classical lines, then titrate for cost/performance. Always document serum lot and perform a brief growth promotion check when lots change.
Why choose Celhappy DMEM (High Glucose) from CoPure
Aligned to classical DMEM used widely across academia and biopharma, with 4× the amino acid and vitamin levels of MEM and a 4.50 g/L glucose backbone. It’s the predictable choice when you need repeatable growth kinetics across passages.
Operational fit: Liquid format’s 3.7 g/L NaHCO₃ integrates seamlessly with standard 5–7% CO₂ incubators; powder format lets you customise bicarbonate and sterilisation to your facility SOP.
Assay-ready awareness: Shipped 2–8 °C and light-protected with clear shelf-life guidance (24 months powder; 12 months liquid), so your team can plan purchasing, media rotation, and lot qualification with less waste. (Per product information.)
Quick spec sheet (for your SOP)
Type: DMEM high glucose (4.50 g/L)
Additives: L-glutamine (with), sodium pyruvate (with), phenol red (with), HEPES (without)
Buffering: Bicarbonate system; liquid contains 3.70 g/L NaHCO₃; powder supplied without NaHCO₃
Sterility: Liquid aseptically filtered; powder non-sterile (sterilise post-reconstitution)
Transport/Storage: 2–8 °C, protect from light
Shelf life: Powder 24 months; Liquid 12 months (from DOM)
Typical users: HeLa, HEK293, COS-7, primary fibroblasts, neurons, glia, SMCs (with serum or defined supplements)
Implementation tips (to reduce variability and cost)
Log osmolality and pH for each lot in your LIMS; keep osmolality within ~320–360 mOsm/kg for standard culture unless your line prefers otherwise.
Minimise temperature cycling: Warm only what you need; return the rest to 2–8 °C. This reduces glutamine breakdown and helps maintain performance over the bottle’s working life.
Match media to the readout: If you’re running endocrine assays or certain live-cell fluorescence experiments, switch to phenol-red-free DMEM to remove a known confounder.
Be cautious adding HEPES: If you must use it (e.g., long microscope sessions outside an incubator), shield from light and validate that it doesn’t alter your cell phenotype.
Celhappy DMEM (High Glucose) delivers the classical DMEM performance profile labs expect—high metabolic headroom, clean bicarbonate buffering, and pragmatic packaging—so you can focus on biology, not baseline variability. If you need a phenol-red-free or HEPES-modified variant for specific assays, talk to CoPure about compatible options that keep your SOPs tight and your data clean.
For Further Enquiry Contact- sales@copure.com.au
