POL Scientific / JBM / Volume 12 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.14440/jbm2025.0016
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Variations in the fetal bovine serum and glucose concentration in the culture medium impact the viability of glioblastoma cells as evidenced through the modulation of cell cycle and reactive oxygen species: An in vitro study

Rimshia Naaz1,2 ,  Mahadevaswamy G. Kuruburu1 ,  Zonunsiami Leihang1 ,  Venugopal R. Bovilla1 ,  Rajalakshmi Rajashetty2 ,  Ramya C. Madhusetty2 ,  Vijaya Y. Vaagesh2 ,  SubbaRao V. Madhunapantula1,3*
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1 Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, JSS Medical College, Faculty of Medicine, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka 570015, India
2 Department of Physiology, JSS Medical College, Faculty of Medicine, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka 570015, India
3 Special Interest Group in Cancer Biology and Cancer Stem Cells, JSS Medical College, Faculty of Medicine, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka 570015, India
JBM 2025 , 12(3), e99010071; https://doi.org/10.14440/jbm2025.0016
Submitted: 13 February 2025 | Revised: 14 May 2025 | Accepted: 10 July 2025 | Published: 28 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background: In vitro cell culture is essential for elucidating various signaling mechanisms and screening pharmacological agents to assess their safety and efficacy. However, cell proliferation and survival in culture can be significantly influenced by variations in the composition of the culture medium. For instance, variations in glucose and fetal bovine serum (FBS) concentrations can impact cell viability. Despite this, only a few studies have examined the impact of varied FBS and glucose concentrations in culture media on cell viability. Objective: This study investigated the mechanisms and cellular effects of glucose and FBS deprivation in glioblastoma cell lines. Methods: We systematically evaluated the impact of FBS and glucose deprivation on the proliferation and survival of rat C6 and human U-87 MG glioblastoma cell lines. Results: Glucose deprivation (0 mg/dL) significantly reduced the viability of C6 cells and moderately lowered the viability of U-87 MG cells, with partial recovery upon glucose supplementation (100 mg/dL, 400 mg/dL). Notably, FBS deprivation (0%) exerted a more profound effect, inducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and extensive cell death in both cell lines. Restoration of FBS (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) recovered cell viability and reduced oxidative stress. Furthermore, both glucose and FBS deprivation altered antioxidant enzyme expression and mitochondrial function. Glucose and FBS deprivation also differentially affected protein kinase B phosphorylation, suggesting metabolic stress-induced signaling modulation. Conclusion: These findings highlight the differential responses of glioblastoma cells to glucose and FBS deprivation and underscore the importance of standardizing culture conditions, especially serum and glucose levels, when designing experiments involving glioblastoma cells.

Keywords
Fetal bovine serum
Glucose
Reactive oxygen species
Rat glioblastoma cell line
C6 cell line
Human glioblastoma cell line
U-87 MG cell line
Funding
This study was funded by a Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - Grant no: 3/1/2/161/Neuro/2021-NCD-I; DST-Cognitive Science Research Initiative (DST-CSRI) - Grant no: SR/CSRI/44/2016(G).
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Journal of Biological Methods, Electronic ISSN: 2326-9901 Print ISSN: TBA, Published by POL Scientific
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