General description
Balanced salt solution (BSS) serves as an irrigating,
transporting, and diluting fluid while maintaining intra- and extracellular
osmotic balance. It also provides cells with water and certain bulk inorganic
ions essential for normal cell metabolism. BSS when combined with a
carbohydrate, such as glucose, provides the principal energy source for cell
metabolism. In addition, it also provides a buffering system to maintain the
medium within the physiological pH range (7.2-7.6).
Application
Hanks′ Balanced Salts has been used:
- for
diluting digested tissues during isolation of pancreatic blood vessels
- for
washing mouse intestinal mucosal cells before lysis and sonication
- as
an immersion solution to test the in vitro bioactivity of
poly(ε-caprolactone)-coated hydroxyapatite scaffold derived from
cuttlefish bone
Preparation Note
Formulated to contain 9.7 grams of powder per liter of
medium.
Supplement with 0.35 g/L sodium bicarbonate.
Other Notes
The pH is adjusted after addition of sodium bicarbonate.
Investigators who work with stem cells or cell clones frequently prefer media
without phenol red.
