Effect of Penicillin‐Streptomycin and Other Antibiotics on Melanogenic Parameters in Cultured B16/F10 Melanoma Cells

Abstract

Penicillin and streptomycin, the most widely used antibiotics in mammalian cell cultures, caused a moderate stimulation in dopa oxidase and tyrosine hydroxylase activities, but a slight inactivation in the dopachrome tautomerase activity of B16/F10 melanoma cells at the routine concentration (100 units/ml penicillin and 100 micrograms/ml streptomycin) used for preventing bacterial growth in cultured animal cells. At these concentrations, tyrosinase activities and melanin content augmented with time during the first 24-48 hr. The opposite effect acted on cell viability. After withdrawal of the antibiotics from the culture medium, the recovery of melanogenic parameters to normal values was fully reached after few hours (around 10), and it was already noticeable as soon as 4 hr after removal. Other antibiotics used in cell culture, like kanamycin, gentamicin, and the antimicotic nystatin, exerted similar low effects at the recommended concentrations, always lower than two-fold and thus lower than those reported for amphotericin B. Taking into account these relatively low effects, and the high risk of contamination of mammalian cells culture without antibiotics, penicillin and streptomycin may still be routinely used in experiments leading to explore the melanogenic activity of malignant melanocytes in culture, unless very precise studies and strict conditions were needed.

Use antibiotics in cell culture with caution: genome-wide identification of antibiotic-induced changes in gene expression and regulation

“…Despite their known toxicity in humans, there have been only a few reports that have demonstrated how these antibiotics impact gene expression. These studies have shown the impact of protein synthesis and enzyme activity in rat cell cultures 46 – 48 and that these antibiotics produce side effects during human stem cell differentiation into adipocytes 30 . However, the systematic effects of using these antibiotics at the standard cell culture concentrations on gene expression and regulation in human cell lines have not been thoroughly investigated 30 .…”

Sustainable drug release from polycaprolactone coated chitin-lignin gel fibrous scaffolds

“…7, the adhesion and growth of BM-MSCs were observed with both PS loaded and control scaffolds through 72 h. There were no significant differences in cell proliferation between the control and loaded scaffolds. The incorporation of PS within PCL coated hybrid scaffolds did not affect cell proliferation on the produced fiberous mats 73 . Similarly, using NIH 3T3 cells we observed minimal negative viability effect.…”

Use antibiotics in cell culture with caution: genome-wide identification of antibiotic-induced changes in gene expression and regulation

“…Despite their known toxicity in humans, there have been only a few reports that have demonstrated how these antibiotics impact gene expression. These studies have shown the impact of protein synthesis and enzyme activity in rat cell cultures [44][45][46] and that these antibiotics produce side effects during human stem cell differentiation into adipocytes 30 . However, the systematic effects of using these antibiotics at the standard cell culture concentrations on gene expression and regulation in human cell lines have not been thoroughly investigated 30 .…”