RPMI-1640 medium was developed by Moore et al., at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, hence the acronym RPMI. The formulation is based on the RPMI-1630 series of media utilizing a bicarbonate buffering system and alterations in the amounts of amino acids and vitamins. RPMI-1640 medium has been used for the culture of human normal and neoplastic leukocytes. RPMI-1640 when properly supplemented, has demonstrated wide applicability for supporting growth of many types of cell cultures, including fresh human lymphocytes in the 72-hour phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation assay.
There are a variety of formulations:
12-702 - with L-glutamine
BE12-702/U1 - with UltraGlutamineI
BE15-702D - [powder] with L-glutamine
12-167 - without L-glutamine
12-115 - with L-glutamine and 25 mM HEPES buffer
BE12-115/U1 - with UltraGlutamineI and 25 mM HEPES buffer
04-525 - with L-glutamine and 165 nM MOPS (used for some mycological assays)
09-774 - with L-glutamine, 25 mM HEPES buffer 100 units/ml penicillin, 50 ug/ml streptomycin
12-918 - without L-glutamine or phenol red
BE12-752 - with L-glutamine, without D-glucose
Storage = 2ºC to 8ºC
(versions without L-glutamine and those with UltraGlutamine can be stored at 15ºC to 30ºC)