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Corning® Cell Culture Surfaces:
Untreated Polystyrene Surface

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	Figure 1. Untreated polystyrene has benzene rings on every other carbon and has an uncharged, very hydrophobic surface.

Corning offers untreated polystyrene culture dishes and microplates for growing cells in stationary suspension or other applications where reduced cell attachment is desired. Natural, unmodified polystyrene surfaces are hydrophobic and only bind cells and biomolecules through passive hydrophobic interactions (Figure 1). However, if these untreated vessels are sterilized by gamma irradiation (standard method), it slightly increases the wettability of the surface and thus its binding characteristics (Onyiriuka et al., 1991).

Untreated polystyrene vessels are often chosen for growing embryoid bodies and other cells where cell attachment needs to be reduced or avoided (suspension culture).  This may work for some cell lines but many transformed cell lines (CHO-k1, for example) and macrophages will readily attach and grow on untreated, radiation sterilized polystyrene. although attachment is often very uneven. For a better alternative, Corning has developed the Ultra-Low Attachment Surface for growing cells as stationary suspension cultures and other situations where cell attachment must be kept to an absolute minimum.