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Tissue Culture Lab

Our Tissue Culture facility houses four separate tissue culture rooms within our PC2 facilities. Each of the rooms is fully equipped to allow all aspects of cell culture including, but not limited to incubators calibrated for temperature and gas composition, class II Biological Safety Cabinets, pipettes, S1 Pipette Fillers, centrifuges, water baths, fridges, freezers, microscopes and hemocytometers. We also provide cell storage facilities consisting of cryogenic storage dewars and ultra-low freezers.

Four TC Rooms

The Tissue Culture area is divided into four rooms based on the type of work performed.

TC1 is designed for primary human cultures not tested for any known human pathogens, viral work, parasite work and Mycoplasma status positive cell lines undergoing treatment.

TC2 is for cell lines with Mycoplasma status unknown (cell lines new to the facility), with only one Mycoplasma negative result and primary cultures negative for known human pathogens (most animal-based work from the SPF facility).

TC3 hosts cell lines with minimum two negative Mycoplasma results.

TC4 is designated for cell lines with minimum three negative Mycoplasma results cultured without antibiotics.

Mycoplasma Testing

Mycoplasma species are the smallest and simplest self-replicating bacteria that are serious microbial contaminant of cell culture systems.

Mycoplasma contamination alters many eukaryotic host cell functions including growth, morphology, metabolism, genome and antigenicity. Mycoplasma can constitute up to 50% of the total protein and 15-30% of the isolated DNA and cause significant changes in micro array and gene expression profiles. Therefore using mycoplasma-contaminated cultures in experiments would result in the generation of erroneous experimental results.

Mycoplasma status of all cell lines is regularly checked in the facility using PCR method and all new cell lines introduced to the facility undergo quarantine.

Sample preparation Mycoplasma Testing [.pdf 357KB]

 

Liquid Nitrogen Storage

Long term storage of all mammalian cell lines should be below -196°C. Approximately at this temperature water reaches its glass transition phase which means that all liquid water is completely frozen and all metabolic activity ceases ensuring long term sample viability.

The frozen vials of cell lines are distributed between four different dewars depending on where the cells were grown.

Training and access

All users must complete facility-specific training before gaining independent access to shared research equipment. Training includes:
1. General Inductions: Covering fundamental principles, equipment operation, and safety protocols.
2. Instrument-Specific Training: Hands-on instruction tailored to researchers' specific applications.
3. Refresher & Advanced Training: Ongoing skill development and troubleshooting support.

Bookings and facility use

Licensed users have access to online booking systems for equipment scheduling.
Contact facility staff for training, troubleshooting, or equipment-specific queries.

Attribution and authorship

All research using Curtin MRI facilities must acknowledge the relevant facility in publications. Where significant intellectual contributions are made by facility staff, authorship should be considered.

Facilities, contact and support

For inquiries or feedback contact:

Dr Rob Steuart
Facilities Manager
R.Steuart@curtin.edu.au
Tel: 9266 2342