PubMed1990
The pressing need for large-scale culture methods has prompted efforts to develop vessels which will accommodate the growth of large numbers of anchorage-dependent cells. The large-scale "cell factories" have been used to grow viruses for vaccine production, nucleic acid studies, and various cancer research projects. Two particular types of culture vessels used for large-scale production of anchorage-dependent cells were discussed and examples of their use in vaccine production given. Development of these large-scale culture systems has enabled the pharmaceutical companies to (1) meet the ever-increasing demands worldwide for vaccine, (2) employ a production process that produces a cost-efficient vaccine product in cell culture, and (3) produce large volumes of bulk vaccine at a single campaign, thus allowing multiple usage of a single production unit over the course of a year. The type of large-scale culture vessel used depends on the purpose of the culture and the type of cells that are to be grown in the vessel. The unit process vessel, with its multidisks, provides superior surface area, but because of the stainless steel housing, the cells cannot be monitored microscopically. Additionally, the unit process vessel can be equipped with a jacket for precise temperature regulation and thus eliminate the need for incubators. The roller bottles, on the other hand, allow microscopic monitoring of the growing cells but are limited in surface area available for growth, and the volume of harvest fluid obtainable from a bottle is very limited. It should be noted that handling of roller bottles is labor-intensive and requires many more manipulations and hence more personnel than employing unit process-type vessels for vaccine-manufacturing operations. The use of mass cultivation techniques in cancer research has also been of immense benefit. The production of large numbers of neoplastic cells has provided researchers with the raw materials to perform molecular biology experiments such as DNA sequencing, which required milligram quantities of cells before sufficient quantities of DNA could be isolated to allow sequencing studies. Additionally, the technique of mass cultivation also provided sufficient quantities of cells for inoculation into either nude mice or immunosuppressed hamsters in an attempt to determine the tumor induction capacity of the cultured cells. Additional characterization studies which require large numbers of cell, enzyme, and isoenzyme profiles can also be performed on cells grown in roller bottle cultures. There are numerous factors which limit the productivity of mass cultivation systems and the scientist should be aware of their existence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)