title: Evaluation of royal jelly as an alternative to fetal bovine serum in cell culture using cell proliferation assays and live cell imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Royal jelly is a nutritious substance produced by the young nurse bees and contains significant amounts of proteins which are important for cell growth and proliferation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of royal jelly as an alternative to fetal bovine serum (FBS) in cell culture using cell proliferation assays and live cell imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  MRC-5 cells were treated with various concentrations of royal jelly extract in MTT assay. The control groups were comprised of Alpha-Minimal Essential Medium (α-MEM) alone and α-MEM with 10% FBS. Subsequently, the cell proliferation was studied for 10 days using Alamar Blue assay and live cell imaging from 48 to 72 h. The population doubling time (PDT) was determined using trypan blue assay after live cell imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In MTT assay, 0.156 and 0.078 mg/ml of royal jelly produced higher cell viability compared to positive control group but were not significantly different (P > 0.05). In the Alamar Blue assay, 0.156 and 0.078 mg/ml of royal jelly produced greater percentage of reduction at day 3 even though no significant difference was found (P > 0.05). Based on live cell imaging, the PDT for positive, negative, 0.156 and 0.078 mg/ml of royal jelly groups were 29.09, 62.50, 41.67 and 41.67 h respectively. No significant difference was found in the PDT between all the groups (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Royal jelly does not exhibit similar ability like FBS to facilitate cell growth under the present test conditions.
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Marahaini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musa
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nurul Fatihah Mohamad
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Nasir
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia ; Human Genome Centre, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kannan Ponnuraj
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Thirumulu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D002417:Cattle; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D005227:Fatty Acids; D006801:Humans; D044967:Serum; D000099219:Royal Jelly
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005227:Fatty Acids; D000099219:Royal Jelly
keywords: Royal jelly; cell division; live cell imaging; proliferation