Cells dying in serum-free medium

[mills_j at mscf.med.upenn.edu]

> (John  Boswell) writes:
>>
>>Hi,
>>	Our lab is new to cell culture, and we are having a bit of a problem.
[lots of explanation deleted for brevity]

    Rae Nishi (I think that was the name) already had some good suggestions, 
but did not ask the most obvious question that I had which is why do you need 
to grow cells in serum-free medium in the first place?  I assume you have a 
good reason and am just curious.  The second most obvious question is why did 
you assume that the cells _would_ be fine in a serum-free medium?  Are you 
trying to follow some protocol?  I've never heard of HEK cells so can offer 
little input on them, however, I _do_ know that many (if not most) cell lines 
don't like to be thrown into serum-free medium.  In fact, doing so is a good 
way either to induce apoptotic death or at the least to stop them from growing. 
In short, you might get more net advice if you told us a little more about your 
rationale for using a serum-free system,

Jason
Mills_J at a1.mscf.med.upenn.edu