Primary Cell Culture

To obtain cells for culture, they must be isolated from a donor animal tissue or organ. When first initiated in culture, the cell isolates are termed primary cells. After the first subculture, they are called cell strains. Thus, all cell lines are cell strains (the converse is not necessarily true; see Chapter 8). Usually the primary cells are obtained to establish a culture that is composed of a single cell type. In some cases, however, the goal is to establish a mixture of cell types in the culture system. Examples are organ culture and mixtures of cells to examine cell interaction (see Laerum and Bjerkiv, 1990, as an example of comparison of single-cell and mixed-cell cultures derived from the same tissue).