What are the advantages of hollow fiber cell culture?
Hollow fiber bioreactors support cells at 10-100X higher density than regular cell culture methods. This means the cells are in a more in vivo like environment and require less serum, can be more easily adapted to a serum free medium or can be supported with a simplified serum replacement like CDM HD. Secreted products will be concentrated by the filter-like behavior of the hollow fibers, typically 100X higher concentration than that found with traditional bioreactors. The effects of cytokines such as TGF-Beta or TNF Alpha can be controlled by the selection of the pore size of the fiber. Hollow fiber bioreactors permit the culture and handling of large numbers of cells in a way that might not be practical using other methods in most laboratories. Cells are bound to a porous support so they are free to grow in a post confluent fashion. Cells do not need to be split and can grow for extended periods of time. Hybridomas will typically produce antibody for 6 months or longer, CHO and 293 f
