What is the effect of phenol red in DMEM (Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium)?

Posted May 9, 2020

Answer

While serving primarily as a pH indicator in cell culture, phenol red is seen to have estrogenic effects, due to similarity in structure to nonsteroidal estrogens, and the ability to promote cell proliferation in some cell lines. Thus, if working with cells that are responsive to estrogen, you may want to take into consideration the estrogenic effects or use a formulation of DMEM without phenol red.

Additional resources

Berthois, Y., Katzenellenbogen, J. A., & Katzenellenbogen, B. S. (1986). Phenol red in tissue culture media is a weak estrogen: implications concerning the study of estrogen-responsive cells in culture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 83(8), 2496-2500.

Liu, X., Chen, B., Chen, L., Ren, W. T., Liu, J., Wang, G., ... & Wang, Y. (2013). U-shape suppressive effect of phenol red on the epileptiform burst activity via activation of estrogen receptors in primary hippocampal culture. PloS one, 8(4).

Phenol Red, sodium salt *CAS 34487-61-6*