masteroc

I'm taking my first tissue culture course at university and I had a rather fundamental questions that I was hoping I could get some help with. The book that we are using does not like to define terms and seems (at least to me) rather difficult to follow. The book has sections on substrates, substrate preperation, buffered salt solutions, media selection, etc. What is really bothering me is that it doesn't really lay out the actual layers or components that you need to grow cells (lets say eukaryotic cell cultures to keep it simple). If this seems like an ambiguous question, what I mean is that it has said that substrates need to be treated to get cells to adhere (based on which substrate you choose) and then it says that cells will excrete their own ECM or at least components (such as collagen, fibronectin, gelatin). Then the book goes on to explain about buffered salt solutions and media selection, such as DMEM, MEM, etc. What really confuses me is just what is required to have these cell cultures grow. Lets say I wanted to start out with cell culture X, what are the layers that I need for these cells to take. So what I guess im asking for is this: what do you actually need for cell adhesion and proliferation in a cell culture. If you could keep it as introductory as possible (this is my first tissue culture course) that would be much appreciated. Thanks!