DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOPROCESS FOR MURINE DIMERIC IGA PRODUCTION

Monoclonal IgA was produced under serum free conditions by a murine hy bridoma cell line (ZAC3) in a hollow fibre, a continuous stirred tank and a fluidized bed reactor. Differences in the antibody adsorption to DEAE chromatography matrices, an essential step in downstream process ing, were related to the production systems. Chromatography on hydroxy apatite was used to separate monomeric, dimeric and polymeric IgA. Thi s method was successfully applied to IgA produced by all three reactor configurations. The binding of dimeric and polymeric IgA to antigen w as tested by ELISA. Using 2-dimensional SDS-PAGE analysis, dimeric IgA from the three sources was shown to be identical with respect to isoe lectric points of alpha, kappa and J-chain but showed marked differenc es in purity. Finally the efficiency of the three bioprocesses was ass essed by comparing the product yields after purification. This include d the reactor specific production rates, media and time requirements a nd time consumption for the production of 1 g purified dimeric IgA.