Kinetic analysis of hybridoma cell culture in a protein-free medium: Substrate and agitation effects

A kinetic study of a hybridoma cell line that produces monoclonal antibodies against lactoferrin was carried out. A well defined protein-free culture medium was employed to facilitate the subsequent purification of the monoclonal antibodies. It should be highlighted that most of the existing work has been carried out employing culture media enriched with fetal bovine serum (FBS). Cell growth and monoclonal antibody production were monitored and kinetic parameters were determined. Besides, fundamental nutrients such as glucose and glutamine, inhibitory products such as ammonium and lactate, and several amino acids were followed throughout the culture. Additional experiments were carried out supplementing the medium with glutamine and ammonium, none of them resulting the key compound that halted the cell growth under the tested conditions and an unstructured model can be used to describe the system. Finally, agitation of the culture by a rocker set-up has shown high values of the specific death rate.