Use of Plant Peptone-Containing Serum-Free Media for the Cultivation of CHO Cells in Suspension and on Microcarriers

Abstract

A peptone-contg. serum-free media formulation achieving high cell d. growth and productivity for Chinese Hamster Ovary cells cultivated in suspension and on Fibra-Cel microcarriers is described. The CHO-K1 cells and CHO-320 cells secreting interferon-γ were grown in BDM basal medium supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine and 10% serum. CHO-K1 and CHO-320 cells previously adapted to suspension in serum-contg. medium easily proliferated in the serum-free and protein-free media fortified with rice-derived peptones following a single step adaptation strategy, both displaying specific growth rates ranging from 0.024 to 0.032/h within 2 wk. Both the serum-free and protein-free media contg. rice-derived peptones at 0.25 g/L allowed CHO-K1 and CHO-320 to proliferate with specific growth rates similar to those measured for cells cultivated in the presence of serum. CHO-320 cells also showed levels of IFN-γ secretion exceeding 1 mg/L in the presence of the serum- and protein-free BDM media fortified with peptones, with higher specific productivity obtained in the presence of the low protein serum-free medium. The low protein and protein-free media fortified with plant-derived peptones can efficiently support the growth and productivity of CHO cell lines in suspension and on microcarriers in the absence of serum. on SciFinder(R)