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Novel bioreactors for the culture and expansion of aggregative neural stem cells

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering volume 31, pages 393–400 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Neural stem cells have been cultured as three-dimensional aggregates in a number of different types of bioreactors. The design and configuration of the bioreactor are shown to be crucial factors for the successful propagation of the cells. A novel bioreactor with liquid re-circulation and a working volume of 200 ml has been designed, tested and shown to be able to produce a higher cell vitality compared to those produced in multi-well plates, shake flasks and stirred flasks. The novel reactor was able to produce a total density of cells of 3.5 × 106 cells/ml consisting of a larger number of smaller and proliferative aggregates, compared to only 1.8 × 106 cells/ml produced in a multi-well plate. Shake flasks and stirred flasks commonly used for facilitating mass transfer in the culture of micro-organisms are shown to be unsuitable for the propagation of neural stem cells.

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Acknowledgement

The neural stem cell cultures are gifts from Dr. M. A. Caldwell of the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair and Professor C. ffrench-Constant of the Department of Pathology. Y. L. Ng is thankful for the financial support from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, UK

    Yuen Ling Ng & Howard A. Chase

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  1. Yuen Ling Ng
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  2. Howard A. Chase
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Correspondence to Howard A. Chase.

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Ng, Y.L., Chase, H.A. Novel bioreactors for the culture and expansion of aggregative neural stem cells. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 31, 393–400 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-007-0174-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-007-0174-4

Keywords

  • Bioreactor
  • Cell aggregation
  • Cell culture
  • Neural stem cell