COLLAGEN-COATED BA2-ALGINATE MICROCARRIERS FOR THE CULTURE OF ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT MAMMALIAN-CELLS()

Several types of microcarriers suitable for large-scale cultivation of mammalian cells are commercially available. However, many of these ca rriers have disadvantages, e.g., the need for enzymatic digestion for cell harvesting, size limitations and insufficient biocompatibility. T hese limitations have been overcome by the development of collagen-coa ted Ba2+-alginate microcarriers. Ba2+-alginate microspheres, made with the air-jet droplet generator technique, were collagen-coated by incu bation in a 0.5% collagen solution, with subsequent gelling of the col lagen layer around the alginate microspheres. Human chang liver (CCL-1 3) and mouse fibroblast (L929) cell lines were cultivated in stationar y, unstirred cultures as model systems. After a lag phase of nearly 24 h, the cells grew rapidly on these microcarriers and reached confluen ce after 3 days. The microcarrier cultures were stable for an addition al 4-9 days and longer: Cells were harvested either by trypsinization or by dissolution of the alginate matrix using 5 mM EDTA. The main adv antages of this new microcarrier system are that the preparation proce dure is easy and can be accomplished on demand with standard laborator y equipment.