Bellows boosts cell culture yields
Bioengineering can produce the same amount of cells in a single
500ml bottle as would be made in 20 or more conventional roller
bottles, according to the company which is introducing the device
to the North American market.
Canada's Metabios said that the disposable vessel, dubbed the BelloCell, features an 'artificial lung' that raises the oxygen in the container and supports very high densities of cells.
The principle behind the BelloCell is to immobilise cells in a porous matrix, which is then packed into the culture chamber. Culture media is located in the lower chamber with a compressible bellows, that can be raised and lowered to cover the matrix with the culture media and then expose it to the air.
During the exposing phase, cells immobilised in the porous matrices become exposed to the oxygen in the vessel through a thin liquid film. And when the cells are submerged the new liquid surface helps the uptake of nutrients and removal of metabolic wastes from the cells.
The complete BelloCell bioreactor consists of two components: a sterile, single-use culture bottle (BelloCell 500) and a bellow compressor (BelloStage), which holds four BelloCells.
The bioreactor is specially designed for high-density culture of mammalian and insect cells, for laboratory production of large quantities of proteins, virus, antibody, cell mass and cell components, according to Metabios. Specific applications include protein and virus production, monoclonal antibody production, making whole cells and cell components for binding assays, gene and cell therapy, proteome research and tissue engineering.
Since the matrix surface is specially treated, BelloCell can grow both anchorage-dependent and anchorage-independent cells and allow easy harvest of whole cells, cell components or secreted proteins.
BelloCell has been successfully used for culturing many mammalian and insect cell lines, including Vero, Sf-9, Hi-5, BHK-21, rBHK-Factor VIII, CHO, CHO-K1, rCHO-hIgG, rC-127-TPA, HEK293, HepG2, Hela, Huh 7, RK-13, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC), human foreskin fibroblast cells, and human muscle skeleton cells, noted the firm.
For more information on the BelloCell, visit Metabios' website.
