Cultivation of anchorage-dependent mammalian cells and production of various metabolites

Abstract

Cell culture is an important tool for the production of various biologically active products such as pharmaceuticals, viral vaccines, viral insecticides, monoclonal antibodies, polypeptides and growth factors. These products are produced by normal, transformed and genetically engineered cells. The majority of these cells are anchorage dependent and require a solid surface to attach to in order to proliferate, metabolize nutrients and produce biomolecules. The need for cell culture was intensified with the enhanced development of mammalian genetic engineering, which raised a new demand for advanced cell culture technologies. Intensive studies have been undertaken by scientists to develop new technologies for large-scale cell culture. A major effort was invested to develop cell culture systems with high ratios of surface area to volume. At present there is a wide variety of systems, each with its own advantages and limitations. In this short review, the various large-scale cell culture systems are described. Cell culture technology in general, and in particular the substrates to which the cells adhere, play important roles in the product formation of a given macromolecule; therefore the system should be chosen very carefully and adapted to the biological process. The production process of tissue plasminogen activator from normal human fibroblasts and a new cell carrier, “Fibra-cel”, which is made of non-woven polyester fabric, are presented as examples in order to demonstrate the state of the art in this field.