Penicillin/Streptomycin (Pen/Strep) is an antibiotic mixture of penicillin and streptomycin that can be added to cell culture media. It is effective in preventing contamination with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. This product is provided as a 100x concentrate and is supplemented with L-Glutamine.
Penicillins belong to the β-lactam family and act by inhibiting an essential enzyme for the synthesis of new membrane components (D-Alanin-Transpeptidase). However, this means that penicillin is only effective on actively dividing cells. Streptomycin acts by binding to the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, and this mechanism inhibits protein synthesis within the bacterium, regardless of whether the cell is actively dividing. L-Glutamine is an essential amino acid that can be added to culture media and serves as a major energy source for cells in culture.