Conceptual art of a tet-free FBS bottle overlayed on a cell
Diagram of gene expression regulation by tetracycline to show why tet-free FBS is important for use with this system

Because some lots of FBS contain residual amounts of the antibiotic tetracycline (tet), unintended expression can occur in very sensitive tet-inducible gene expression systems. Tetracycline-system approved FBS, also known as tet-free FBS (tetracycline-free FBS), is designed and tested to ensure the absence of detectable tetracycline and tetracycline analogs, making this specialty serum ideal for cell culture applications relying on these expression systems.

Features of Gibco Tet-Approved FBS

Two different sized bottles of Gibco Tet-System Approved FBS
  • Undergoes functional, cell-based assays to verify absence of tetracycline or its derivatives
  • Delivers quicker workflows, reduced background noise, and increased consistency of expression when working with tet-inducible expression systems
  • To manage experimental budgets, cells can be maintained in standard FBS and introduced to tet-approved FBS in the critical days prior to running assays
  • Also available in the aliquot-free Gibco One Shot FBS 50 mL bottle

Research areas using tet-system approved (tetracycline-free) FBS

Tet-approved FBS can be used in many applications.

Research areaExample
NeuroscienceProduce GABAA receptors for electrophysiological study [1]
Cancer researchQuantitatively control PVT1 expression by tet-on in bladder cancer [2]
Tetracycline-regulated shRNA expression to apply to monocyte interaction [3]

Drug screening		Establish cell line with inducible Glutamate receptor for drug screening [4]
Vaccine developmentResearch for the safer vaccinia virus vaccines with tet-inducible system [5]
Gene editingCRISPR/Cas9-mediated control of NFAT5 [6] and PVT1 and ANRIL [7]

Researcher quotes


Tet-approved FBS: case study results

A biomanufacturing organization looking to improve the safety of cell culture virus production has engineered a cell line that will only permit virus expression in the presence of tetracycline. Replacing traditional FBS with tet-approved FBS (tetracycline-free FBS) improves control over when the virus is produced.

FBS usedConditionResult
Tet-System Approved FBS-Tet
Fluorescence micrograph of cells showing no detectable fluorescence, indicating that virus production does not occur in the absence of tet when using Tet-approved FBS
No active virus production
Low biosafety risk
Tet-System Approved FBS+Tet
Fluorescence micrograph of cells with high intensity level in the cytoplasm indicating high virus expression
Virus production as expected
Low biosafety risk
Standard FBS with residual tetracycline-Tet
Fluorescence micrograph of cells with visible fluorescence in the cytoplasm, indicating low level virus expression
Virus production when none was expected
Significant biosafety risk
Standard FBS with residual tetracycline+Tet
Fluorescence micrograph of cells with high intensity level in the cytoplasm indicating high virus expression
Virus production as expected
Low biosafety risk

Use of tet-approved FBS helps provide optimal control of the virus production.

Tet-system approved FBS—a secure and efficient solution

References
  1. Dostalova Z, Liu A, Zhou X, et al. (2010) High-level expression and purification of Cys-loop ligand-gated ion channels in a tetracycline-inducible stable mammalian cell line: GABAA and serotonin receptors. Protein Science 19(9):1728–1738. 
  2. Zhuang C, Li J, Liu Y, et al. (2015) Tetracycline-inducible shRNA targeting long non-coding RNA PVT1 inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in bladder cancer cells. Oncotarget 6(38):41194–41203. 
  3. Kubala MH, DeClerck YA. (2017) Conditional Knockdown of Gene Expression in Cancer Cell Lines to Study the Recruitment of Monocytes/Macrophages to the Tumor Microenvironment. Journal of Visualized Experiments 129:56333. 
  4. Chruścicka B, Burnat G, Brański P, et al. (2015) Tetracycline-based system for controlled inducible expression of group III metabotropic glutamate receptors. Journal of Biomolecular Screening 20(3):350–358. 
  5. Hagen CJ, Titong A, Sarnoski EA, et al. (2014) Antibiotic-dependent expression of early transcription factor subunits leads to stringent control of vaccinia virus replication. Virus Research 181:43–52. 
  6. Kang K, Huang L, Li Q, et al. (2019) An improved Tet-on system in microRNA overexpression and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology 10(43). 
  7. Peng L, Pan P, Chen J, et al. (2018) A tetracycline‑inducible CRISPR/Cas9 system, targeting two long non‑coding RNAs, suppresses the malignant behavior of bladder cancer cells. Oncology Letters 16:4309–4316.

Resources

Fetal Bovine Serum Basics
Learn the basics of FBS for cell culture, including information on the FBS uses, components, and the market dynamics driving this industry.

Cell Culture Basics
Learn the fundamentals of cell culture for achieving consistent results, including laboratory setup, safety, and aseptic techniques.

Gibco iMatch Sera Lot Matching Tool 
Provide your previous Gibco FBS lot number or answer a few questions to find your ideal serum match.

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