What is cell culture synchronization?

Cell culture synchronization is technique used to bring cells in culture representing different stages of the cell cycle to the same phase. The most commonly used methods for cell culture synchronization include:

• Chemical blockade- this method exposes cells to chemicals that interfere or block certain cell cycle processes such as DNA replication. Cells blocked at specific cycles can be released by washing.
• Physical fractionation – this method separates cells by physical means based on cell density, cell size, light scatter, fluorescent emission of labeled cells and antibodies binding to cell surface epitopes. The two most commonly used methods of physical fractionation are centrifugal elutriation and fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS).