Influence of protein concentration on mechanical cell damage and fluidoynamics in airlift reactors for mammalian cell culture

Abstract

Effects of bovine serum albumin on the growth of hybridoma cells in an airlift loop reactor show the importance of protein concentration for the prevention of mechanical cell damage. To confirm the hypothesis that this is caused by a decrease turbulence of the medium, measurements of wall shear rate vectors with a newly developed electrochemical probe were carried out. The results of these measurements show that turbulence is reduced with increasing protein concentration. Thus, turbulence effects must be responsible for mechanical cell damage.