AQMedia™

L-glutamine is an essential amino acid that is required by virtually all mammalian cells in culture. Unfortunately however, unlike other amino acids L-glutamine is labile in solution, and will spontaneously break down in cell culture media to form ammonia and pyrrolidone carboxylic acid (PCA).

Because of this breakdown, researchers will typically supplement their cultures with L-glutamine periodically to ensure sufficient glutamine is available for their growing cells. However, this supplementation brings risks, including the possibility of culture contamination as well as the development of potentially toxic levels of ammonia in long-term cultures.

To address these problems, we now offer a line of AQmedia™ classical media, which contain the stable glutamine dipeptide alanyl-glutamine (Ala-Gln, AQ). Ala-Gln provides a stable source of L-glutamine for cells, eliminating the need to supplement cultures with glutamine and reducing the potential buildup of ammonia in culture.