SubscribeLIFE&BRAIN has developed a scalable microcarrier-based process for the suspension culture of hESC and has recently set out to optimise this system employing a fully controlled parallelised cultivation system designed by DASGIP.
adherent hESCculture
DASGIP's Solution
This miniature system is ideally suited to assay a variety of culture parameters and media conditions without the need for large cell numbers and large volumes of expensive cell culture media.
Optimisation of cultivation strategies for production cell lines and/or primary cells requires an experimental setup allowing constant culture conditions (i.e. pH and DO).
DASGIP's parallel cultivation system
Such experiments are typically run in stirred vessels or spinner flasks. If cellular material is only available in limited numbers (e.g. primary cells) or media and supplements are expensive, a small-scale cultivation system is needed fulfilling the following requirements:
- small working volume
- simple inoculum
- simple sampling w/o disconnecting gas/feed supply
- controlled culture conditions
- system providing scale-up relevant data
Here we present the design of the Mini-Spinner system (working volume 30-55 mL) with oxygen and pH control using standard electrodes (enabling easy connection to standard process control systems) as well as its suitability for human stem cells.
Mini-Spinner vs. conventional systems
Conventional static cultivation systems (flasks and well plates) have low oxygen transfer rates and may reach oxygen limitation during cultivation. Stirred systems offer more efficient oxygen transfer but the minimal working volume is quite high.
LIFE&BRAIN's microcarrier-based process
The Mini-Spinner flask combines mass transfer values comparable to stirred vessels with a typical T75 flask cultivation volume.
Human Stem Cells
Human embryonic stem cells(hESC) hold promise for cell-based therapies. Furthermore, hESC-derived somatic cells may represent innovative tools for pharmaceutical screening, the identification of new drug targets and cell based compound delivery. The implementation of these approaches depends critically on the ability to expand hESC to large numbers without affecting their pluripotency.
scalable, microcarrier-based suspension culture of hESC