Cell Culture Expansion in Fully Closed Erlenmeyer Shake Flasks Outside the Biosafety Cabinet

摘要

Expansion of suspension cell culture from cell bank to bioreactor is performed through passages of successively larger Erlenmeyer shake flasks. A traditional cap must be unscrewed for each fluid transfer. Risk of contamination is mitigated by performing these fluid transfers in a biosafety cabinet (BSC) or laminar flow hood. Work in a BSC is not preferred because of high maintenance and operating costs, intensive cleaning and decontamination procedures, and the inconvenience of performing operationsin the BSC. Despite the use of a BSC, cultures are split to create back up flasks to be used in case of a contamination. Cell expansion can be improved by meeting the following objectives: Eliminate contamination risks. Enable aseptic fluid transfers. Reduce waste from backup passages. Achieve comparable growth rates to incumbent expansion methods.