DMEM/Ham’s F-12 (DMEM/F-12), without L-Glutamine, with 15 mM HEPES

DMEM/F-12 is widely used in cell culture as a basal medium. It provides basic nutrients for growth of various mammalian cell lines, especially when supplemented with FBS.

In the past, DMEM was shown to successfully cultivate primary cells, such as fibroblasts, neurons, HUVECs, smooth muscle cells, or even cells lines, such as HEK-293, HeLa, Cos-7, and PC-12.

DMEM/F-12 is a 1:1 mixture of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium and Ham's F-12 (Ham’s Nutrient Mixture F-12). This formulation of DMEM/F-12 is supplemented with 15 mM HEPES and comes without L-glutamine.

Formulations of DMEM/F-12 with HEPES are usually used for serum-free applications. In these cases, the medium is supplemented with 15 mM HEPES to compensate the missing buffering capactiy.

Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium is based on Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium (EMEM) but has a fourfold higher concentration of amino acids and vitamins. Ham's F-12, on the other hand, is based on Ham's F-10 medium.

A very common practice is the supplementation of DMEM with FBS, typically at a concentration of 10%. This is often necessary because the medium does not contain any growth hormones, lipids, or proteins that are essential for cell growth.

DMEM contains a buffer to maintain pH levels and usually comes with phenol red as a pH indicator. Cells cultivated in DMEM, or any other medium containing the bicarbonate buffer system, must be kept in a controlled CO₂ environment of 5-10%. When phenol red is added, you can monitor pH changes from 6.2 (yellow) to 8.2 (red).

Each high-quality cell culture media by Capricorn Scientific is manufactured according to the originally published formula. We offer modifications essential to the consistent performance and stability of the culture medium. All our classical DMEM variants have been tested to optimally support the growth of your cells.