Schneider 2 cells

File:S2_cells.png Schneider 2 cells, usually abbreviated as S2 cells, are one of the most commonly used Drosophila melanogaster cell lines. S2 cells were derived from a primary culture of late stage (20–24 hours old) Drosophila melanogaster embryos by Dr. Imogene Schneider,{{cite journal | author=Schneider I | title=Cell Lines Derived from Late Embryonic Stages of Drosophila melanogaster | journal=J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol. | year=1972 | volume=27 | pages=363–365 }} likely from a macrophage-like lineage.

S2 cells can be grown at room temperature both as a semi-adherent monolayer or

in suspension, and they can be grown in the absence of serum.{{cite book | author=Invitrogen| title=Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) Cells | version=Version F | publisher=Invitrogen | date=May 2, 2002 | url=http://tools.invitrogen.com/content/sfs/manuals/schneidercells_man.pdf | id=28-0172 |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021191328/http://tools.invitrogen.com/content/sfs/manuals/schneidercells_man.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-21 }}

Several media have been developed for culturing insect cell lines with many of them suitable for culturing S2 cells. The S2 cells have been shown to grow up to 5.1×10⁷ cells/ml in serum free medium{{Cite journal|last1=Pamboukian|first1=Marilena Martins|last2=Jorge|first2=Soraia Athie Calil|last3=Santos|first3=Mariza Gerdulo|last4=Yokomizo|first4=Adriana Yurie|last5=Pereira|first5=Carlos Augusto|last6=Tonso|first6=Aldo|date=2008-02-27|title=Insect cells respiratory activity in bioreactor|journal=Cytotechnology|language=en|volume=57|issue=1|pages=37–44|doi=10.1007/s10616-007-9118-8|issn=0920-9069|pmc=2553646|pmid=19003170}} and above 10⁷ cells/ml in basal media such as that used in Schneider's experiments.{{Cite journal|last1=Moraes|first1=Ângela M.|last2=Jorge|first2=Soraia A. C.|last3=Astray|first3=Renato M.|last4=Suazo|first4=Claudio A. T.|last5=Calderón Riquelme|first5=Camilo E.|last6=Augusto|first6=Elisabeth F. P.|last7=Tonso|first7=Aldo|last8=Pamboukian|first8=Marilena M.|last9=Piccoli|first9=Rosane A. M.|date=2012-05-01|title=Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells for expression of heterologous genes: From gene cloning to bioprocess development|journal=Biotechnology Advances|volume=30|issue=3|pages=613–628|doi=10.1016/j.biotechadv.2011.10.009|pmid=22079894}} ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies have shown a cell concentration of up 7.0x10⁷ cell/ml.{{Cite journal|last=Dyring|first=Charlotte|title=Optimising the Drosophila S2 Expression System for Production of Therapeutic Vaccines|journal=BioProcessing Journal|volume=10|issue=2|pages=28–35|doi=10.12665/j102.dyring|year=2011}}

S2 cells are often used for expression of heterologous proteins and can be used for large-scale production of proteins. Additionally, the cells can be easily transiently transfected with several plasmids at once to study protein interactions.{{Cite journal|last1=Fasbender|first1=Frank|last2=Claus|first2=Maren|last3=Wingert|first3=Sabine|last4=Sandusky|first4=Mina|last5=Watzl|first5=Carsten|date=2017-07-07|title=Differential Requirements for Src-Family Kinases in SYK or ZAP70-Mediated SLP-76 Phosphorylation in Lymphocytes|journal=Frontiers in Immunology|volume=8|pages=789|doi=10.3389/fimmu.2017.00789|issn=1664-3224|pmc=5500614|pmid=28736554|doi-access=free}}{{Cite book|last1=Yang|first1=Jianying|last2=Reth|first2=Michael|date=2012|title=Drosophila S2 Schneider cells: a useful tool for rebuilding and redesigning approaches in synthetic biology|series=Methods in Molecular Biology|volume=813|pages=331–341|doi=10.1007/978-1-61779-412-4_20|issn=1940-6029|pmid=22083752|isbn=978-1-61779-411-7}}