Abstract
Although the manual counting chamber (hemacytometer) is the gold standard for counting cells, this method is subject to great variability due to the ‘human factor’. The automated cell counter Coulter Counter) canenumerate cells in less time and with greater accuracy than the hemacytometer by removing many of the steps in which errors are made. While the Coulter Counter (and others of its type) has been used for many years in the cell culture field, there have been few studies to validate its use with specific cell types. We conducted several experiments in which we assessed the accuracy of the Coulter Counter over counts made with a hemacytometer as well as validated its use for the counting of satellite cells and preadipocytes.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- DMEM:
-
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium;
- FBS:
-
fetal bovine serum;
- PBS:
-
phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.08;
- PSG:
-
pigskin gelatin;
- SC:
-
satellite cell
References
Fakler T, O’Brian Smith E, McNeel RL, Mersmann HJ (1996). Evaluation of alternative methods to prepare porcine adipocytes for measurement with an electronic particle number and size determination apparatus. J Anim Sci 74(10): 2385–2393
Hathaway MR, Pampusch MS, Hembree JR, Dayton WR (1994). Transforming growth factor beta-1 facil-itates establishing clonal populations of ovine muscle satellite cells. J Anim Sci 72(8): 2001–2007
Hembree JR, Pampusch MS, Yang F, Causey JL, Hathaway MR, Dayton WR (1996). Cultured porcine myogenic cells produce insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and transforming growth factor beta-1 stimulates IGFBP-3 production. J Anim Sci 74(7): 1530–1540
Lee KC, Azain MJ, Hardin MD, Williams SE (1994). Effect of porcine somatotropin (pST) treatment and withdrawal on performance and adipose tissue cellularity in finishing swine. J Anim Sci 2(7): 1702–1711
Maroni BJ, Haesemeyer R, Wilson LK, DiGirolamo M (1990). Electronic determination of size and number in isolated unfixed adipocyte populations. J Lipid Res 31(9): 1703–1709
Olson EN, Sternberg E, Hu JS, Spizz G, Wilcox C. Regulation of myogenic differentiation by type β transforming growth factor. J Cell Biol 103 1799–1805
Shappell NW, Feil VJ, Smith DJ, Larsen GL, McFarland DC (2000). Response of C2C12 mouse and turkey skeletal muscle cells to the beta-adrenergic agonist ractopamine. J Anim Sci 78(3): 699–708
Stewart NT, Byrne KM, Hosick HL, Vierck JL, Dodson MV (2000). Traditional and emerging methods for analyzing cell activity in cell culture. Meth Cell Sci 22: 6–78
Yi Z, Hathaway MR, Dayton WR, White ME (2001). Effects of growth factors on insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) secretion by primary porcine satellite cell cultures. J Anim Sci 79(11): 2820–2826
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fernyhough, M.E., Helterline, D.L., Vierck, J.L. et al. Coulter Counter use in the enumeration of muscle and fat stem cells. Methods Cell Sci 25, 221–225 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11022-004-2382-5
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11022-004-2382-5