A technique has now been developed that allows for the continuous production and collection of cells, removing the limitation on the number of cells that can be grown in a dish…
cell culture
Scientists at Newcastle University have developed a technique that allows for the continuous production and collection of cells. The process removes the limit on the number of cells that can be grown in a dish, which until now had been severely limited by its surface area.
The research team developed a coating that allows individual stromal cells to be "peeled off" from the surface on which they grow. This creates more space so that more cells can grow continuously. The team also demonstrated that the process works on a range of stromal cells, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
Che Connon, professor of tissue engineering and author of the paper, said: "This allows us to move from the batch production of cells to the unremitting process for the first time. Remarkably, with this continuous production technology, even the surface of the culture , a penny size can also produce the same number of cells over a period of time as a larger sized flask.
"This concept also represents an important innovation in cell-based therapies, where up to a billion cells are needed per patient. With our new technology, one square meter will yield enough cells to treat 4,000 patients, while Traditional methods require an area equal to a football field!
"Our new technique also allows full control over the rate of cell production, so that 1 billion cells per week can be produced using existing stacked culture flasks or scaled down to fit the bioreactor on the head of the PIN.
Traditionally, cells are grown on the surface area of the flask and then chemically or enzymatically detached for use. Cells are created in batches, and the batch size is limited to the region where the cells grow. This limitation is a well-established bottleneck in therapeutic cell manufacturing and is not met by current industry due to the lack of suitable alternative technologies.
This publication addresses this challenge, describing a special "peptide amphiphile" coating that enables adherent cells to achieve a stable balance between growth and detachment. Self-dissecting cells are then produced in a continuous bioprocessing for use in a variety of downstream applications without losing their original properties.
The potential reduction in size of continuous cell biotechnology has clear advantages in terms of lower production costs and increased coverage and applications.
There are many cell-based therapies in later stages of development, and it is estimated that 10 million patients each year may benefit from cardiac cell therapy. But a traditional approach would require an area equivalent to central London and mid-Manhattan to run simultaneously to generate enough production.
"The concept of continuous bioprocessing is currently used for the production of biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and anti-cancer antibodies, but never for cells," says researcher Martina Miotto, first author of the paper.
"The number of patients in need of cell therapy is enormous, such as those with heart, cartilage, skin and cancer-related diseases. Our new technology provides a much-needed solution while saving cost, reducing materials and improving the quality of the final product." quality and standardization."
