Growth and maintenance of tissue cultures MCQs With Answer is a focused resource for B. Pharm students covering practical and theoretical aspects of in vitro cell culture. It introduces sterile technique, media composition, serum roles, primary versus continuous cell lines, passaging, and growth kinetics. Key lab skills such as aseptic handling, trypsinization, cryopreservation, CO2 incubation, contamination control (bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma), and viability assays (trypan blue, MTT) are emphasized. The material links concepts to experimental design, data interpretation, and safety considerations relevant to pharmacy practice and research. Concise, keyword-rich explanations support exam preparation and lab competence. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.
Q1. What is the best definition of tissue culture?
- The growth and maintenance of whole organs in vivo
- The in vitro growth and maintenance of cells or tissues under controlled sterile conditions
- Use of antibiotics to grow microbes in culture
- Preservation of tissues by formalin fixation
Correct Answer: The in vitro growth and maintenance of cells or tissues under controlled sterile conditions
Q2. Which statement correctly distinguishes primary cell cultures from continuous cell lines?
- Primary cultures originate from tumors and are immortal
- Primary cultures are derived directly from tissue and have a limited lifespan, whereas continuous lines are immortalized
- Continuous cell lines always require serum-free media
- Primary cultures are always contaminated with mycoplasma
Correct Answer: Primary cultures are derived directly from tissue and have a limited lifespan, whereas continuous lines are immortalized
Q3. What is the primary purpose of aseptic technique in tissue culture?
- To ensure cells divide faster
- To prevent contamination and maintain culture sterility
- To increase CO2 concentration in the incubator
- To change the pH indicator color
Correct Answer: To prevent contamination and maintain culture sterility
Q4. Which component of culture media primarily provides hormones, growth factors and attachment proteins?
- Antibiotics
- Serum (e.g., fetal bovine serum)
- Bicarbonate buffer
- Phenol red
Correct Answer: Serum (e.g., fetal bovine serum)
Q5. What is the role of trypsin in adherent cell culture?
- To stain dead cells for counting
- To detach adherent cells from the culture surface by digesting adhesion proteins
- To freeze cells for storage
- To buffer pH in media
Correct Answer: To detach adherent cells from the culture surface by digesting adhesion proteins
Q6. Why is a CO2 incubator commonly used for mammalian cell cultures?
- To sterilize culture flasks
- To maintain humidity only
- To regulate CO2 for bicarbonate-buffered media and maintain physiological pH
- To expose cells to high oxygen tension
Correct Answer: To regulate CO2 for bicarbonate-buffered media and maintain physiological pH
Q7. What does phenol red in culture media indicate?
- Antibiotic concentration
- pH changes in the medium
- Cell viability directly
- Glucose concentration
Correct Answer: pH changes in the medium
Q8. Why are cells subcultured (passaged) regularly?
- To increase contamination risk
- To change the cell type
- To prevent overconfluence and maintain exponential growth phase
- To reduce nutrient levels deliberately
Correct Answer: To prevent overconfluence and maintain exponential growth phase
Q9. What is anchorage dependence in cell culture?
- Cells require a substrate or extracellular matrix to attach and grow
- Cells grow better in suspension
- Cells can grow without any nutrients
- Cells need antibiotics to attach
Correct Answer: Cells require a substrate or extracellular matrix to attach and grow
Q10. What principle underlies the trypan blue exclusion assay?
- Live cells take up trypan blue and appear stained
- Dead cells exclude trypan blue and appear unstained
- Dead cells take up trypan blue because membrane integrity is compromised
- Trypan blue measures metabolic activity
Correct Answer: Dead cells take up trypan blue because membrane integrity is compromised
Q11. Which test is most sensitive for detecting mycoplasma contamination in cultures?
- Light microscopy at low magnification
- Mycoplasma-specific PCR
- Observing turbidity in the medium
- Gram staining
Correct Answer: Mycoplasma-specific PCR
Q12. What is the function of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in cryopreservation?
- To fix cells permanently
- To act as a cryoprotectant that reduces ice crystal formation
- To increase osmotic shock during freezing
- To stain cells for viability assays
Correct Answer: To act as a cryoprotectant that reduces ice crystal formation
Q13. What is the recommended controlled freezing rate for many mammalian cells to maximize viability?
- Immediate plunge into liquid nitrogen
- Approximately 1°C per minute
- 10°C per second
- Freezing at room temperature gradually
Correct Answer: Approximately 1°C per minute
Q14. What is the best practice when thawing cryopreserved cells?
- Thaw slowly at 4°C over several hours
- Thaw rapidly in a 37°C water bath and then dilute promptly to remove DMSO
- Thaw in direct sunlight
- Leave frozen vials at room temperature until soft
Correct Answer: Thaw rapidly in a 37°C water bath and then dilute promptly to remove DMSO
Q15. Which statement about routine use of antibiotics in cell culture is correct?
- Antibiotics should replace aseptic technique
- Antibiotics are mandatory for all cultures to prevent contamination
- Antibiotics can mask low-level contamination and are not a substitute for good aseptic practice
- Antibiotics improve cell growth rate in all cases
Correct Answer: Antibiotics can mask low-level contamination and are not a substitute for good aseptic practice
Q16. What advantage do defined, serum-free media offer over serum-containing media?
- Increased lot-to-lot variability
- Reduced experimental variability and clearer interpretation of factor effects
- Guaranteed higher growth for all cell types
- Increased risk of bacterial contamination
Correct Answer: Reduced experimental variability and clearer interpretation of factor effects
Q17. Which parameter describes the time required for a cell population to double in number?
- Confluence
- Generation time or doubling time
- Lag phase duration only
- Carrying capacity
Correct Answer: Generation time or doubling time
Q18. What is contact inhibition in the context of tissue culture?
- Cells die upon touching each other
- Cells stop dividing when they form a continuous monolayer and contact neighboring cells
- Cells migrate away from contact points
- Cells require contact with bacteria to grow
Correct Answer: Cells stop dividing when they form a continuous monolayer and contact neighboring cells
Q19. Anchorage-independent growth in soft agar is commonly used to indicate which property?
- High antibiotic sensitivity
- Cell transformation and tumorigenic potential
- Requirement for attachment to survive
- Ability to freeze well
Correct Answer: Cell transformation and tumorigenic potential
Q20. What does FBS stand for in cell culture?
- Fetal Bovine Serum
- Fresh Bacterial Supernatant
- Foetal Blood Solution
- Filtered Buffer Salt
Correct Answer: Fetal Bovine Serum
Q21. Which instrument is commonly used for manual viable cell counting?
- Spectrophotometer
- Hemocytometer
- Real-time PCR machine
- Centrifuge
Correct Answer: Hemocytometer
Q22. The MTT assay primarily measures which cellular property?
- Membrane integrity exclusively
- Mitochondrial metabolic activity via reduction of tetrazolium
- DNA fragmentation directly
- Cell adhesion strength
Correct Answer: Mitochondrial metabolic activity via reduction of tetrazolium
Q23. How is confluence typically expressed in tissue culture?
- As the number of cells per milliliter only
- As percent area of the culture surface covered by cells
- As the weight of cells in the flask
- As the optical density at 600 nm
Correct Answer: As percent area of the culture surface covered by cells
Q24. If you split a culture with a 1:3 split ratio, what happens to cell density immediately after passaging?
- Cell density increases threefold
- Cell density is reduced to one third of the original
- Cell density doubles
- Cell number remains unchanged
Correct Answer: Cell density is reduced to one third of the original
Q25. Which method is commonly used to create a primary culture from solid tissue?
- Direct seeding without dissociation
- Mechanical and enzymatic dissociation to obtain single cells
- Immediate cryopreservation without processing
- Growing tissue on bacterial agar plates
Correct Answer: Mechanical and enzymatic dissociation to obtain single cells
Q26. The need for CO2 in the incubator is primarily linked to which buffering system in many media?
- Phosphate buffer system
- Bicarbonate buffer system
- HEPES-only buffering
- Protein-based buffering exclusively
Correct Answer: Bicarbonate buffer system
Q27. Which extracellular matrix proteins are commonly used to enhance attachment of mammalian cells?
- Collagen, fibronectin, and laminin
- Peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide
- Cellulose and chitin
- Albumin and hemoglobin
Correct Answer: Collagen, fibronectin, and laminin
Q28. Why is fetal bovine serum often heat-inactivated before use in some protocols?
- To sterilize the serum completely
- To inactivate complement proteins that can affect cell survival or assays
- To increase its growth factor content
- To precipitate proteins for removal
Correct Answer: To inactivate complement proteins that can affect cell survival or assays
Q29. Which method is commonly used to deliver plasmid DNA into cultured cells with minimal toxicity?
- Lipofection (lipid-based transfection)
- Direct injection with a needle into the medium
- Adding naked DNA without any reagent only
- Exposing cells to antibiotics
Correct Answer: Lipofection (lipid-based transfection)
Q30. Which indicator is most reliable for early detection of bacterial contamination in cell cultures?
- Color change of medium and microscopic observation of motile bacteria
- Immediate change in cell doubling time only
- Stable pH and clear medium
- Presence of serum in the medium
Correct Answer: Color change of medium and microscopic observation of motile bacteria
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