Quick Definition
What is Horse Serum?: Horse serum (equine serum) is serum collected from adult horses, used in cell culture as a supplement for specific cell types, in IHC and immunofluorescence as a blocking reagent when secondary antibodies are raised in horse or donkey, and in equine reproductive biology for oocyte maturation and embryo culture.
Horse serum for myoblast differentiation
The most widely used application of horse serum in cell biology is myoblast differentiation. C2C12 cells are expanded in DMEM + 10–20% FBS, then switched to DMEM + 2% horse serum. The switch triggers cell cycle exit and MyoD-driven myogenin expression, leading to myotube formation over 5–7 days. The low-concentration horse serum maintains viability without the mitogenic FBS stimulus that would prevent differentiation.
Horse serum as IHC blocking reagent
Normal Horse Serum (NHS) is used when the secondary antibody is raised in horse or donkey. Species of blocking serum must match the species of the secondary antibody. Recommended: 5–10% NHS in PBS, 30–60 minutes before primary antibody application.
Key Facts
- Used as blocking serum (Normal Horse Serum, NHS) when secondary antibody is raised in horse or donkey
- Used in muscle cell differentiation medium — horse serum at 2% is standard for inducing myoblast differentiation into myotubes
- Used in equine IVF — oocyte maturation and embryo holding medium uses horse serum as species-homologous supplement
- Lower growth factor content than FBS — 2% horse serum specifically suppresses proliferation to induce differentiation in C2C12 and primary myoblasts
- Available from SeamlessBio: 50 mL, 100 mL, 500 mL; heat inactivated on request
Further Reading
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