The effects of agitation intensity with and without continuous sparging on the growth and antibody production of hybridoma cells

The response of 3 murine hybridomas to increasing speeds of agitation from 100 to 450 rpm with propellers and Rushton turbines in surface-aerated bioreactors of 1.4 l has been determined with pO2 being kept above a minimum level of 20%. Cell growth and viability, antibody production, glucose consumption, lactate production and metabolic activity have been measured and found to be unaffected over this range of speeds. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) showed no detectable cell damage even at the highest intensity of agitation. However, once the culture was continuously sparged with air the net cell growth rate and the maximum cell number fell markedly, that fall increasing with increasing agitator speed. To generalise these findings and compare them with literature reports, the implications of this speed range on the turbulence parameters have been discussed. The implications for scale-up are also considered. © 1989.

Duke Scholars

Author Seog Oh Physics