General description
Cell culture media are generally supplemented with D-Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) an essential vitamin required for the synthesis of coenzyme-A (CoA) and the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Cell culture media also contains the inter-convertible sulfur amino acids cysteine and cystine. Pantethine is a dimeric form of pantothenic acid linked by cysteamine bridging groups. The metabolic break-down of pantothine leads to the generation of pantetheine, an intermediate in Co-A biosynthesis. Pantetheine is further metabolized to two pantothenic acid and two cysteamine molecules. Cysteamine is likely to form mixed disulfide with cysteine in solution. The reported activities of pantothenic acid include its hypolipidemic and hypotriglyceridemic effects. The risks/benefits of using D-Pantehine as a cell culture supplement have not been explored. |