Production of anchorage‐dependent cells—problems and their possible solutions

Abstract

In vitro cell culture has proven to be a valuable procedure for the study of cellular function as well as the production of veterinary and human vaccines. In recent years, interest in cell culture technology has grown due to the need for production of interferon, monoclonal antibodies, various hormones, and other cell‐secreted products with potential medical uses. Many of these products have been successfully produced only be cells which require attachment to a surface in order to grow and function. This requirement places severe limitations on the economics and feasibility of large‐scale culture. In response, a number of new technologies have been proposed and developed in attempts to increase the surface area available within a given culture volume, to increase the cell density per surface area, to decrease medium and serum requirements per unit of product, to increase product production by control of the cellular environment, and to automate the production process. Some of the techniques and described along with their ability to control the environment of cells in culture.

Bags versus flasks: a comparison of cell culture systems for the production of dendritic cell–based immunotherapies

“…The recommended fill volume typically corresponds to a liquid height of 2 to 3 mm . This gas/liquid interface is a limiting factor in the scale‐up of cell culture systems, as gas exchange almost exclusively occurs via the vented screw cap of the flask . To maintain this level of medium in the presence of evaporation, frequent media changes are necessary, which in turn increases costs of reagents and labor and the probability of contamination.…”

“…97 This gas/liquid interface is a limiting factor in the scale-up of cell culture systems, as gas exchange almost exclusively occurs via the vented screw cap of the flask. [98][99][100] To maintain this level of medium in the presence of evaporation, frequent media changes are necessary, which in turn increases costs of reagents and labor and the probability of contamination. Thus, a variety of gas-permeable bag cell culture containers with low water evaporation rates have been made available to the marketing sizes up to approximately 2 L fill volume (Table 3).…”

Improved method for transmission electron microscopy of ciliated cell monolayers maintained on gas‐permeable membranes

“…Cell monolayer culture is a technique which has valuable applications in numerous disciplines. With the introduction of new culture chambers (De Vries et al, 1980;Gabridge, 1981 ;Pentz, 1981 ;Hackett & Sullivan, 1982), monolayer growth on gas-permeable membranes (Jensen, 1981) has become a reality. This type of application is especially useful in environmental toxicology.…”