High-density cultivation of insect cells and production of recombinant baculovirus using a novel oscillating bioreactor

Abstract

A novel two-compartment bioreactor, BelloCell®, was used to cultivate insect cells and a maximum yield of 4.6 × 109 cells was attained. The cells were immobilized in a packed bed fixed in the upper chamber, and the bellow in the lower chamber was compressed and released in an alternating fashion. The motion resulted in gentle, cyclic movement of the medium that was contained in the lower chamber and consequently exposed the cells to air in an oscillatory manner, thus rendering adequate aeration and uniform cell distribution in the bed. The baculovirus yield produced in BelloCell® could amount up to 3.3 × 1017 pfu using as little as 1.11 medium in the production run. Besides, BelloCell® was extremely easy to handle and operate. These benefits underline the potential of BelloCell® for simple, economical and high-density cell culture and protein/virus production.