PRODUCTION OF HUMAN GROWTH-HORMONE BY PROTEIN-FREE CULTIVATION OF ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT CELLS WITH POROUS CELLULOSE CARRIER

Verots S3 cells derived from Vero-317 cells which can grow in biotin-c ontaining MEM medium mere successfully cultured in a protein-free medi um with a porous cellulose carrier. The growth of Verots S3 cells with out a carrier was inhibited because they easily aggregated under exces sive shear stress, but the cells grew very quickly when cultured with the porous cellulose carrier. This improvement in cell growth was thou ght to be due to the protection from fluid shear stress afforded by th e porous structure of the carrier. Production of human growth hormone (hGH) by repeated batch cultivation of Verots S3 cells was much better with than without the carrier. Cultivation with a temperature shift f rom 39 to 33 degrees C gave hGH production up to 400% higher in a spin ner culture with the cellulose carrier. For large-scale cultivation, t emperature sensitive Verots S3 cells were cultivated with the porous c ellulose carrier in a rotary column bioreactor and the perfusion cultu re results showed that the cell density inside the carrier increased u p to 7.9 x 10(8) cells . ml-carrier(-1) in 2 weeks. No concentration g radient of the cells in the rotary column was observed.