PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES AGAINST HUMAN CHORIONIC-GONADOTROPIN BY HYBRIDOMA CULTURES IN CALCIUM ALGINATE CAPSULES

A new method of making microcapsules with calcium alginate gel was dev eloped and the cultivation of the encapsulated hybridoma cells produci ng monoclonal antibodies against human chorionic gonadotropin was inve stigated. A high cell density of 2.0 x 10(8) cells/cm(3) in the capsul es led to a high dilution rate of 0.67 per hour and resulted in the hi gh volumetric monoclonal antibody productivity of 652.8 mg/l/day, whic h was 20-30 times higher than those of traditional continuous suspensi on cultures. However, long-term continuous culture was not achieved wi th this capsule system probably because of the limitation in nutrient supply and the accumulation of waste products. Also the analysis of ox ygen transfer in this system showed that oxygen supply was not enough to support such a high cell density.