Core Facilities

Cell Culture Unit

Mission

The Cell Culture Unit is part of the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM) as a Research Support Service (SAI) intended to provide scientific, technical and instrumental support to the centre’s research groups and to other public and private institutions in activities related to cell cultures.

The development of in vitro cell cultures is an essential tool for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms that occur in every biological process. Cell cultures involve the in vitro growth and maintenance of cells originating from normal or tumour organs or tissues. To this end, it is essential to preserve the metabolic functions that cells have in vivo by using culture media with a defined chemical composition and controlled conditions of temperature, pH, CO2 concentration and humidity.

Description

The Cell Culture Unit provides an essential foundation for the implementation and development of research projects that use cell cultures as an experimental tool in the field of Biomedical Research. It brings together infrastructure, laboratories, equipment and highly qualified personnel, with the aim of providing scientific and technical advice and support to the users of the Unit. It consists of the Cell Culture Laboratory (Biosafety Level 2), the Microbiology Laboratory (Biosafety Level 2), the Radioactive Culture Laboratory (Biosafety Level 2) and the cryogenics facility.

The Cell Culture Unit has been certified since 2016 in accordance with the guidelines of the Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2008), and since 2019 it has complied with the requirements of the updated standard (ISO 9001:2015).

Services offered

  • Management of the use of the facilities available to the Unit
  • Periodic inspection of the facilities and preventive maintenance of their equipment
  • Monitoring compliance with the work and cleaning regulations of the Cell Culture Unit, requiring all users of these facilities to follow good working practices
  • Preparation and adaptation of work protocols, cleaning/disinfection programmes and usage records for the equipment located in the Unit
  • Maintenance of the appropriate documentation for the proper management of the Unit
  • Scientific and technical advice to Unit users
  • Detection of Mycoplasma contamination
  • Cell thawing

Rates available at www.iisgm.com (Research Support Services).

Website with the booking procedure: umce.hggm.es

Equipment

Cell Culture Laboratory
  • 4 Class II Biological Safety Cabinets; Model: Bio II Advance Brand: Telstar
  • 2 water-jacketed incubators with temperature and CO2 control, and in a humidity-saturated environment; Model: Model 3100 Series. Forma Series II water jacket CO2 Incubator Brand: Thermo Scientific
  • 1 inverted microscope; Model: Labovert Brand: Leitz
  • 1 vacuum pump; Model: Vacusafe Confort Eco Brand: Integra Bioscience
  • 1 thermostatic bath; Model: IsoTemp FisherBrand analogue (10 litres) Brand: Fisherbrand
  • 1 refrigerated centrifuge Sorvall ST40R series. Brand: Thermo Scientific
  • 1 Sorvall ST16 series centrifuge
  • 1 Sorvall legend 21R refrigerated minifuge
  • 3 devices for freezing cells while maintaining viability Coolcell® LX.
Microbiology Laboratory
  • 1 Class II biological safety cabinet; Model: Gelaire BSB-3 Cabinet
  • 3 bacteriological incubators; 2 by Haraeus and 1 Selecta Incudigit
  • 1 centrifuge; Model: Digitor 21 Brand: Orthoaresa
Radioactive Culture Laboratory
  • 1 Class II biological safety cabinet; Model: EuroAIre TDI CSB95 Cabinet
  • 1 water-jacketed incubator with temperature and CO2 control, and in a humidity-saturated environment; Model: Function Line Brand: Haraeus Instruments
  • 1 analogue thermostatic bath Brand: Labbox
  • 1 inverted microscope; Brand: Leica
Cryogenics Facility
  • 1 "Taylor Wharton" LS 4800 Laboratory Sistems Liquid Nitrogen Container with a capacity of 130 litres
  • 1 50-litre liquid nitrogen extraction system

Installation

The Cell Culture Unit is located on the first floor of the Experimental Medicine and Surgery Pavilion of the IiSGM. It has 60 m2 distributed across three rooms and equipped with the electrical network and biosafety specifications required to meet the quality standards of the services offered.

Cell Culture Rates

Contact

Dra. Maribel Clemente Mayoral
Unit Manager
E-mail: maribel.clemente(ELIMINAR)@iisgm.com
Telephone: 91 426 92 06
Experimental Medicine and Surgery Pavilion (1st floor)
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón
C/ Doctor Esquerdo, 46; Madrid 28007