An increase in the number of cells growing in cell culture is the result of two opposing effects: an increase in the number of cells that traverse the cell cycle and divide into two daughter cells (mitosis), or a decrease in the number of cells that die according to different modalities, the most prominent one being apoptosis (1), or both. Insulin and IGF-I are both capable of facilitating cell progression through the cell cycle, and of inhibiting apoptotic mechanisms. In…

The maturation of many process industries is marked by transition from batch to continuous processing. Often this move to con-tinuous processing determines the winners in the industry. Will the bioprocess industry go the same way? The analogy is often drawn to the chemical industry where continuous processing is widely applied. Although available for many decades continuous bioprocessing is not yet a mainstay of the industry. Currently there is a ground swell of feeling within the bioprocess industry that the time…

Development of a high-performance and robust fed-batch process for recombinant Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines presents challenges in light of the diverse nutritional requirements observed with different clonally derived cell lines as well as the varied production phases. To address these challenges, we will discuss an innovative strategy of media, feed, and process development that has been developed at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB). The efficiency and effectiveness of this strategy have been well demonstrated in multiple mAb-producing CHO cell…

Pseudomonas fluorescens, a Gram-negative bacterium, has been specifically developed as a protein production platform to enable rapid identification of strains capable of expressing high titers of soluble and active protein. PfÄ“nex Expression Technology (TM) employs a toolbox of engineered P. fluorescens host strains, including protease deficient mutants and chaperone/ foldase overexpressors combined with a set of expression vectors encoding a variety of transcription and translation regulators, as well as a collection of periplasmic secretion signals. High-throughput automated transformation, growth, and…

Single-use bioreactors are applied in the biopharmaceutical industry for mammalian cell culture processes. The low gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient generally achieved in these systems does not allow for the compatable application of microbial processes in these bioreactor systems. The CELL-tainer® technology combines a vertical and horizontal movement in a rocking bioreactor concept, so that the turbulence and power input is intensified. In this system, mass transfer rates comparable to stirred tank reactors are achievable. Thus, volumetric oxygen transfer rates (kLa)…

Recombinant viruses (e.g. lentivirus and adeno-associated-virus) can be used as human gene therapy vectors. They are mainly produced in adherent cell cultures (e.g. HEK293T, A549, VERO) in Roller Bottles or multiple-tray-stacks using either transient transfection or infection strategies. Therefore, the Integrity® iCELLis® (ATMI LifeSciences) line of bioreactors offers a new production alternative with stronger process controls and ease of scale-up.   The iCELLis bioreactor is designed for adherent cell culture applications. Cells grow on microfibers carriers packed in a fixed-bed…