What is the Difference Between RPMI and DMEM?

RPMI and DMEM are two commonly used mammalian cell culture media, but they have several key differences:

1. Composition: DMEM (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium) is a modified basal medium with increased amino acid and vitamin concentrations, while RPMI is a basal salt solution (BSS) based on the RPMI 1630 series of media.
2. Type of culture: DMEM is used to culture adherent cells, grown on surfaces such as plastic or glass, whereas RPMI is used to culture mammalian cells in suspension culture.
3. Glucose and nutrient concentrations: DMEM (low glucose) has a lower concentration of glucose (1 g/L) than RPMI 1640 (2 g/L). DMEM has a higher concentration of calcium (1.8 mM) and a lower concentration of phosphate (1 mM) than RPMI 1640, which contains 0.8 mM of calcium and 5 mM of phosphate.
4. Applications: RPMI is widely used for the cultivation of human T and B lymphocytes, bone marrow cells, and hybridoma, as well as for studying human neoplastic cells. DMEM, on the other hand, is used for culturing cells in adherent cultures and is rich in nutrients.

Both media contain essential amino acids, vitamins, and inorganic salts required for growth, and both are incomplete, requiring the addition of serum. The choice between RPMI and DMEM depends on the specific cell type and culture conditions required for your experiment.

Comparative Table: RPMI vs DMEM

It seems that the search results provided do not contain the necessary information to create a table comparing RPMI and DMEM. However, I can try to provide a brief comparison based on the information I have available.

RPMI and DMEM are both media used to culture cells in laboratories. Here are some key differences between the two:

Please note that this information is not exhaustive and is based on limited search results. For a more detailed comparison, I recommend conducting further research or consulting scientific publications.