Comparison of cell growth in T-flasks, in micro hollow fiber bioreactors, and in an industrial scale hollow fiber bioreactor system

In this article, cell growth in a novel micro hollow fiber bioreactor was c ompared to that in a T-flask and the AcuSyst-Maximizer(R), a large scale in dustrial hollow fiber bioreactor system. In T-flasks, there was relatively little difference in the growth rates of one murine hybridoma cultured in t hree different media and for three other murine hybridomas cultured in one medium. However, substantial differences were seen in the growth rates of c ells in the micro bioreactor under these same conditions. These difference correlated well with the corresponding rates of initial cell expansion in t he Maximizer. Quantitative prediction of the steady-state antibody producti on rate in the Maximizer was more problematic. However, conditions which le ad to faster initial cell growth and higher viable cell densities in the mi cro bioreactor correlated with better performance of a cell line in the Max imizer. These results demonstrate that the micro bioreactor is more useful than a T-flask for determining optimal conditions for cell growth in a larg e scale hollow fiber bioreactor system.