Horse serum is a biological product extracted from the blood of horses, which contains various proteins, growth factors, hormones, and other essential nutrients for cell growth and proliferation.
Compared with other serum, the advantages of horse serum mainly lie in its suitability for cell culture, ability to stimulate cell differentiation, and cultivation of specific cells. Compared with fetal bovine serum, horse serum has a lower cost and is widely used in various cell cultures. It can also be used for the cultivation of microorganisms such as mycoplasma and Helicobacter pylori. Moreover, horse serum has no bacteriophages and ultra-low endotoxin levels, ensuring the purity of cell culture, no hemolysis, no foreign matter, no bacterial, fungal, mycoplasma and other microbial contamination.
However, horse serum also has certain disadvantages. Compared with fetal bovine serum (FBS), horse serum has lower levels of immunoglobulin and differences in composition. Although horses are suitable for various cell cultures, they may not be suitable for all types of cells, and appropriate serum needs to be selected according to experimental requirements. Adult horses have a complete complement system, so in experiments involving complement, it may be necessary to heat inactivate horse serum. It is necessary to avoid repeated freezing and thawing, and the prepared complete culture medium should not be stored at 4 ℃ for more than 7 days.
Horse serum is widely used in the cultivation of cells, neurons, and microorganisms, such as nerve cells, hematopoietic stem cells, primary cells, mycoplasma, and Helicobacter pylori. Moreover, 10% horse serum can be used to support the in vitro antibody response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC). In some studies, horse serum is used to generate C2 heterokaryotes. Horse serum and hormones can jointly induce the establishment of specific biological models, such as the rabbit femoral head ischemic necrosis model. In the production process of certain vaccines, horse serum may be used in the cell culture stage to support virus replication.
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