Elimination of mycoplasma contaminants from cell cultures with animal serum.

Repeated treatment with guinea pig or rabbit serum, but not with human serum, was found to eliminate mycoplasma contaminants from mammalian cell cultures as judged by staining with the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33258. Following treatment with rabbit serum and several passages, M. hyorhinis could not be detected by staining, isolation on agar, or specific immunofluorescence in a human prostate carcinoma cell line heavily contaminated with this organism. There was no evidence for the involvement of antimycoplasma antibodies in the bactericidal activity of rabbit serum. Mycoplasmacidal activity of rabbit serum was associated with a heat-labile component(s) which could be inactivated by incubation of the serum with goat antirabbit complement component C3.