RADIAL FLOW BIOREACTOR FOR ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT CELLS

THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A CELL-CULTURE GROWTH CHAMBER FOR ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT CELLS THAT IS CAPABLEOF ACHIEVING HIGH CELL DENSITIES AND CAN BE EASILY SCALED UP. SUCH A CHAMBER CAN BE USED FOR THE ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION OF A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT THERAPEUTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES THAT CANNOT BE PRODUCED FROM ANIMAL TISSUE OR BACTERIAL SYSTEMS. THE CULTURE CHAMBER WILL BE DESIGNED SO THAT THERE IS A TRANSVERSE FLOW OF CULTURE MEDIUM ACROSS A PACKED BED OF MICROCARRIERS WITH ATTACHED CELLS. A UNIQUE DESIGN, BASED ON RADIAL FLOW DYNAMICS, SHOULD MINIMIZE THE NONOPTIMAL CULTURE-PERFUSION PROBLEMS THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF OTHER LARGE-SCALE CULTURE METHODSAND SHOULD MAXIMIZE THE UNIFORMITY OF MEDIUM DELIVERY AND CELL VIABILITY. BECAUSE ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT CELLS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VALUABLE BIOMOLECULES, AND BECAUSE THE COMPETITIVE CELL-GROWTH TECHNOLOGIES THAT EXIST SUFFER FROM A NUMBER OF PITFALLS, THERE APPEARS TO BE CONSIDERABLE APPLICATION FOR THIS RESEARCH.