HIGH-DENSITY VERO CELL-CULTURE ON MICROCARRIERS IN A CELL BIOREACTOR

VERO cells were cultivated in microcarriers (MCs) using a bioreactor w ith a working capacity of 3.7 l. We studied the effect of MCs concentr ation in the proportion of MC-bearing cells and on the kinetics of cel l growth, as well as the cell growth with a batch, fed-batch and perfu sion mode operation. The data show that, in a batch system, with an in itial VERO cell inoculum of 3 x 10(4) cells/mg of MCs, 65%, 55% and 50 % of the MCs were shown to be totally covered by cells after 7 days in cultures with respectively 2, 5 and 10 mg/ml of MCs. It was observed, that higher concentrations of MCs produced higher final yields of VER O cells. With 10 mg/ml of MCs, after 7 days of culture, a final yield of 10(10) cells in the bioreactor, was obtained. The study of cell gro wth with a batch, fed-batch or perfusion system showed that the medium renewal allowed the continuous cell growth with the obtention of a fi nal yield of 4 x 10(9) cells in a culture with 2 mg/ml of MCs. The num ber of cells that can be easily reached in these culture systems, whic h can be even further improved, indicates its usefulness for cell prop agation and the preparation of cell products such as viral antigens.