Chemically defined, Earle’s Balanced Salt Solutions (EBSS) create an environment that preserves the structural and physiological integrity of mammalian cells in vitro.
Saline solutions serve several roles:
– As transport, dilution, and irrigation solutions to maintain intra and extracellular osmotic pressure.
– When combined with a sugar such as glucose, they provide the main source of energy for cellular metabolism.
– As buffer solutions to maintain the medium within physiological pH conditions (7.2-7.6).
Modified EBSS without calcium and magnesium can be used to wash and re-suspend cells during the dissociation process when calcium and magnesium could inhibit trypsin action.
