CA1269628A

CA1269628A - Cell culture microcarrier, method for preparing same and use thereof for cultivating anchorage-dependent cells

Info

Publication number: CA1269628A
Application number: CA000472941A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Dieter Schwengers; Ingrid Keller
Original assignee: Pfeifer and Langen GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Pfeifer and Langen GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1984-01-28
Filing date: 1985-01-25
Publication date: 1990-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 2007-05-29
Also published as: DK37985A; PT79884A; ES539867A0; DE3402927C2; US4910142A; JPS60237991A; EP0150796A2; EP0150796B1; IE850175L; ES8602039A1; ATE46717T1; PT79884B; US4824946A; DE3573273D1; DK37985D0; DE3402927A1; EP0150796A3

Abstract

Cell Culture Microcarrier, Method for Preparing Same and Use Thereof for Cultivating Anchorage-Dependent Cells Abstract of the Disclosure A cell culture microcarrier having positively charged cross-linked polysaccharides and basic groups linked therewith wherein the basic groups have the formula (I)

Description

Cell Culture Microcarrier, Method for_Preparing Same an~ Use Thexeof for Cultivating Anchorage-Dependent Cells The present invention relates to a cell culture microcarrier having positively charged chemical portions comprising cross-linked polysaccharides and basic groups linked therewith, a method for preparing same, and -the use thereof for cultivating anchora~e-dependent cells in a microcarrier cul-ture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The fundamentals of maintaining and augmenting human and animal cells in cell cultures have been systematically developed during the last twenty years. Methods for cultivating cells have now been firmly established for the production of vaccine sub-stances, antibodies, interferon, enzymes, and hormones in many laboratories.
Primary cells and diploid cells require a solid substrate having a distinct surface charge for their growth. These cells are designated as "anchorage-dependent" cells since they are only able to grow if they can adhere to a carrier.
~0 Initially, glass in the form of Petri dishes, culture bot-tles, or roll-culture flasks was used as the carrier. However, there can be formed only a monolayer on the surfaces of the equipment so that the surface available per unit will be limited.
Thus, for such cell augmentation cultures on a commercial scale, thousands of roll-culture flasks have to be cleaned, sterilized, filled with nutrient medium, inoculated with cells, and harvested once the cell augmentation is finished. Since all of these steps have to be carried out under sterile conditions, they are very labor- and cost-intensive.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
By the introduction of the cell culture augmentation on microcarriers by A.L. van Wezel, Nature 216 (1967), p. 64, an improved technology has been developed that coul~ be suitable to eliminate the described problems. In this technique, microcarri-ers having an average particle size in the range from 100 to fn 300 ~ are suspended in a nutrient medium. In as far as the microcarriers have a suitable surface charge, the anchorage-dependent cells will adhere to the microcarriers and grow thereon. Two to 5 g/l (dry weight) of microcarrier provide a sur~ace in the nutrient medium of from 0.76 to 1.9 m2/l of cul-ture volume. In contrast, the largest roller flasks will only provide a surface of about 0.16 m2. Thus, 1 l of a culture containing microcarriers will be able to replace from 5 to 12 large roller flasks. However, on the commercial scale, microcar-riers so far have not yet gained the importance having been expected, since the microcarriers as so far developed still have a number of inherent drawbacks.
A.L. van Wezel originally used insoluble dextran beads substituted with diethylaminoethyl groups and commercially avail-able as DEAE Sephadex~A-50 ~Pharmacia AB, Sweden). However, in _i the course of the use thereof, cytotoxic and nutrient adsorption effects appeared, manifested by an initial death of cells and an unsatisfactory cell growth; cf. C.-B. Horng, W. Melimaus (Biotechnology and Bioengineering~ Vol. 17 (1975), pp. 715-732).
In the meantime, various improvements for microcarriers have been developed, which are capable of eliminating some of the original disadvantages. Thus, in the German Offenlegungsschrift 29 09 340 there has been described a process for pre-treating microcarriers for cell cultures wherein the beads are impregnated with fetal calf serum and heated in the serum at 75C to 90C for about 10 minutes.

Levine, Wong, Wang and Thilly experimented with microcarri-ers of various charge densities and concluded that DEAE dextran beads having a diameter of 150 ~m and a charge density of 2 meq/g ~ fr~O~e ~lar~ -2-~ C~W-19148 of the dry dextran matrix constitute the optimum characteristics for the adhesion of the cells and the growth thereof; cf~ D.F-Levine et al., Somatic Cell Genetics, Vol. 3 (1977), pp. 1~9-155;
U.S. Patent 4,189,534 and German Offenlegungsschri.ft ~7 49 989-~ licrocarriers that contain a charge density of only 1.5 to2.0 meq/g instead of 5.~ meq/g, in the meantime, have been mar-keted by the firm Pharmacia AB under the designation "Cytodex 1"
and by the firm Flow Labora~ories under the designation "Super~
,~ts beads". A survey of the properties and possible applications of these products and an introduction into th~ development of the microcarrier technology is presented by the company brochure "~licrocarrier Cell Culture, Principles & Methods", edition 1981, available from the firm Pharmacia AB, Uppsala, Sweden.
Unfortunately, there has been shown that even these improved microcarriers having a significantly reduced charge density, in practice, still display cytotoxic effects, particularly with sensitive cells.
The European Offenlegungsschrift (Published Unexamined Patent Application~ 0 066 726 premises that these cytotoxic ~o properties of the microcarriers based on DEAE dextran reside in the chemical structures of the microcarriers themselves. Thus, it has been known that DEAE microcarriers, in addition to the DEAE substituent comprising a tertiarily bonded nitrogen, also contain groups comprising a quaternarily bonded nitrogen, which latter groups are formed in the synthesis of the microcarriers by a further reaction with more chloroethyl-diethylamine, a reaction which never can be completely avoided. These so called "tandem groups" are supposed to have an alkylating action and to be toxic; cf. L. Ahlgren et al., "Polymeric Amines and Ammonium Salts", E.J. Goethals, Pergamon Press, pp. 293-294. In the com-pany brochure "Microcarrier Cell Culture, Principles & Methods"
by Pharmacia AB, at page 27, there has further been mentioned ~ J~ k -3-9 ~ ~ ~ CAW-]91~8 that, in the known preparation procedures for DE~ dextr~n micro-carriers, up to 35~ of -tandem groups are formed. In the product Cytodex 1, the tandem group content is reduced to about 15~.
In order to completely exclude the aforementioned cytotoxic effect, there have been described in European offenlegungsschrift 0 066 726 microcarriers that only contain quaternary amino groups. Such microcarriers have been marketed under the designa-*

tion "Cy~odex 2" by Pharmacia AB, Sweden. They have a chargecapacity of from 0.5 to 0.8 meq/g.

However, in spite of this further reduced charge capacity, these microcarriers in practice still have displayed disadvanta-geous ef~ects that are attributed to an adsorp~ion of components of the culture medium to the carrier~ Thus, in German Offen-legungsschrift 30 33 885, charge-free microcarriers have been described that have been coated with polypeptides such as collagen or gelatin. However, to these microcarriers there can only adhere cells that on the surface thereof contain structural elements that have a sufficient bonding affinity to the polypeptide layer on the microcarrier.
~o GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTIOM
The present invention seeks to provide a cell culture microcarrier comprising positively charged portions oE
cross-linked polysaccharides and basic groups linked therewith, which do not have any of the aforementioned drawbacks. More spe-cifically, the present invention seeks to develop a microcarrier that may be employed even on a commercial scale for the cultivation of sensitive cells and, thus, substantially have no toxicity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. l is a number of plots of percent of adhered cells over time for five microcarriers of the present invention and two ~ -~ * Trade Mark CAW~191~8 prior art microcarr.iers. The ma-tter i8 discussed in Example 3, infra.
Fig. 2 is a plot oE cell concentra~ion over time for t~o microcarriers of the present invention and one prior ark micro~
carrier; see Example 4r infra.

DETAIL~D DESCRIPTION OF THE I~lVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there i5 provided `a polysaccharide with positively chargedlbasic groups of the formula (I) o (Z I )n wherein Z is an optionally substituted hydrocarbon chain having at least 2 carbon atoms, preferably a hydrocarbon chain of 2 to 5 carbon atoms, Rl and R2 are the same or diffe.rent and represent alkyl, ryl, or aralkyl group~, preferably Cl 4 alkyl, and n is at least 1 , pre~erably 1 to 4.
Cell culture microcarriers comprising such positively charged basic groups surprisingly have proven to be not toxic, although the art presumed that such groups would be particularly toxic and, therefore, if possible, should not be present at all or only in a small number on the cell culture microcarriers.

Unexpectedly, these positively charged basic groups may even be present in a large number, so that it is not necessary to li.mit the value of the meq/g of dry cross-linked polysaccharides. One reason for the surprisingly good properties of the cell cultu.re microc~rrier of the present invention appears to reside in that it is not the charge density which i5 of crucial i~portance, but the pKs value of the positively charged basic groups. While the pKs value of the basic yroups of DEAE Sephadex is about 9.2, the pKs values of the ce].l culture microcarrier according to the .' ~ CA~7-19148 invention are in the range of from 5 to 8. A preferred, and readily preparable, cell culture microcarrier of the invention is a polysaccharide containing positively charyed basic groups of formula (I) wherein Z is an ethylene yroup, R1 and R2 represent ethyl, and n is equal to 1; the pKs value is 6.2. Such a cell culture microcarrier is substituted virtually with tandem groups only.
In addition to the mentioned simplest case of tandem groups, ~ccording to the invention there may be also used such groups wherein Z contains 3, 4 or more carbon atoms, and wherein R1 and R~, in addition to the ethyl group, also represent methyl groups, propyl groups, isopropyl groups and butyl groups. Since the pKs values will still be in the range of from 5 to 8, R1 and R2 may also be aryl groups such as phenyl and toluyl groups and aralkyl groups such as, more specifically, benzyl groups. Since the pKs values are in the range of from 5 to 8, n may also be larger than 1, so that basic groups comprising 3 or 4 amino ~roups may also be employed.
As the negative counterions to the positively charged nitro-gen atoms, basically all physiologically compatible inorganic and organic anions may be used. Suitable are, more particularly, chloride, phosphate, sulfate, and acetate ions.
The pKs values of the basic substituents may be readily determined by titration. The titration curves show the ~nown point of inflexion at the pKs value.
The present invention further relates to a method of prepar-ing the new cell culture microcarrier. The preparation is accom-plished by the E~ se known reaction of a cross-linked polysaccharide with a compound of the formula (II) 1l Y _ Z - N (II) C~W-191~8 wherein Z is an op-tionally substitutecl hyclrocarbon chain having at least 2 carbon atoms, preferably a hydrocarbon chain of 2 to 5 carbon atoms, Rl and R2 are -the same or different and represent alkyl, aryl or aralkyl groups, preferably Cl 4 alkyl, and Y is a reactive group.
The reactive group, more speci~ically, may be chloxide, bromide, but also a sulfonic acid group etc., which i5 capa~le of ef~ect-ing an O-alkylation of the cross-linked polysaccharide.
According to the invention the reaction is carried out in the presence of a strong base in at leagt two steps ànd using at least a two times molar excess of compound (II). It is preferred that the aqueous alkaline suspension o~ the cross-linked poly-saccharide is poured into a suspension medium such as toluene, paraffins, water, and reacted with compound (II) while stirring.
Subsequently it is preferred that the positively charged basic groups are neutralized by physiologically compatible anions.
As the cross-linked polysaccharides, there may preferably be used the known cross-linked polydextrans. However, basically any ~o other swellable and cross-linked polysaccharide may also be used as the carrier of the positive basic groups.
The new cell culture microcarrier, a method for preparing same and~he use thereof are further illustrated by way of the following examples, although the present invention is not limited thereto.

Preparation of the microcarrier:
Dry cross-linked dextran beads (Polydex PL-50 or Sephadex G 50) having a water absorption of about 5 g/g and a particle size of from 80 to 100 ~m (13 g) are allowed to swell in distilled water overnight. After removal by suction oE the excess water the swellecl beads are admixed with 5.3 g oE a 43% by ~~ * Trade Mark -7-~, , ~ CAW~1914 weight sodium hydroxide solution~ The thus-prepared alkaline suspension of dextran beads is poured into 120 g of toluene pre-warmed to 50C. Then, 8 ml of chloroethyl-diethylamine are added to the reaction mixture with vigorous stirriny. After a reaction period of 3 hours at 50C, a further 10 ml of chloroethyl-diethylamine are added.
The reaction is completed after another 3 hours of stirring at 50C. The reacted dextran beads are separated from the re-action mixture by filtration. The microcarriers are purified by lo washing several times with alcohol and distilled water and ad-justing the pH to 5.0 using diluted hydrochloric acid.
De-swelling is eventually effected by repeated treatment of the beads with washing solutions having increasing alcohol concen-trations. The de-swelled beads are dried at 80C overnight.
The microcarriers prepared in accordance with the described method contain about 4.0% of nitrogen and have a charge capacity of 2.86 meq/g of the microcarrier and 4.66 meq/g of the dry untreated dextran, respectively.
The exchange capacity of the thus prepared microcarriers is ~o 2.4 meq/g of the microcarrier and 3.91 meq/g of the dry untreated cross-linked dextran, respectively.
For the determination of the exchange capacity, 1.0 g of the dried microcarriers is allowed to swell in distilled water, transferred to a small column, and washed with 0.1 N diluted hydrochloric acid several times. The removal of the non-bonded chloride ions is accomplished by rinsing the beads with 10 4 N
hydrochloric acid.

The bonded chloride ions are displaced by the addition of a sufficient amount of 10~ sodium sulfate solution and then de-termined by titrating the eluate with 0.1 N silver nitrate so-lution with potassium chromate as indicator.
The obtained result indicates the number of milliequivalents of C1 per gram of the microcarrier. The calculation of the ~2~ 2~

millie~uivalents of Cl per gram of the untreated dextran beads is made using the following formula:
Exchange capacity/g - dry untreate~ cross-linked polydextran =
meq Cl / g microcarrier 1, 000 x - -- - ------------- ---~
% N x 1,000 1,000 - 135 x 100 x 1~
The determination of the structure of the thus-bound nitro-gen compounds is effected by titration of 1 g of the dry micro-carrier in 20 ml of a 1 M potassium chloride solution after adjustment of the initial pH to 12 using 1 N hydrochloric acid.
The titration curve reveals, by the absence of a step in the pH
range of from 10 to 8.5, that tertiary amino groups are no longer present. The pKs value of the amino compound is be-tween 5 and 7.
Example 2 By way of variation of the used amounts of sodium hydroxide solu~ion and chloroethyldiethylamine, the following microcarriers No. 434, 416, 432, and 435 are prepared.
Microcarrier Polydex PL 50 NaOH Chloroethyldiethylamine No. g g (1) ml (2) ml 434 9.5 0.2751.0 1.25 416 4.0 0.22 0.8 1.0 432 13.0 2.1 7.8 9.5 421 13.0 2.2 8.0 10.0 435 9.5 3.7613.0 16.5 ~ %~ CAW-191~8 Substance ~ N A B C D

434 1.0 0.66 0.71 0.73 0-79 416 1.8 1.14 1.29 1.38 1.56 432 3.8 2.33 2.71 3.68 ~.27 421 4.0 2.4 2.86 3.91 4.66 435 408 3.0 3.43 5.sg 6.39 Sephadex A-50 4.2 2.7 3.0 4.54 5.04 Cytodex 1 1.8 1.2 1.29 1.45 1.56 10 Notes:
A: Exchange capacity per gram of microcarrier;
B: Charge capacity per gram of microcarrier;
C: Exchange capacity per gram of untreated cross-linked dextran;
D: Charge capacity per gram of untreated cross-linked dextran.
Example 3 Kinetics of adhesion of GMK (Green Monkey Kidney~ cells:
Microcarriers, prepared as in Examples 1 or 2, respectively, ~n each in a quantity of 5 mg/ml were incubated in Petri dishes for bacteriological use having a diameter of 6 cm with 5 ml of medium MEM (Minimum Essential Medium) and 8~ of FBS (Fetal Bovine Serum) at 37C for 1 hour.
After the addition of fresh GMK cells stripped in trypsin/versene so that a concentration of 2.6 x 105 cells/ml of medium was obtained, samples were taken every 15 minutes. The degree of adhesion can be determined by counting the non-bonded cells.
In comparison to the cell carrier materials according to the invention, the adhesion kinetics were also determined using the commercially available microcarriers based on dextran (Cytodex~) ~ CAW-191 having a charge density of 2.0 meq/g of neutral dextran matrix and using the anion exchanger Sephadex A-5 ~
The results as presented in Fig. 1 show that the new micro-carriers are not toxic even with a high charge capaci-ty, whereas ~ephadex A-50 displays the ~nown toxic effects after about 50 minutes.
Example 4 Growth of anchorage-dependent cells, exemplified by G~IX
cells on the microcarriers No. 416 and 421 having different charge densities.
Each of the dried microcarriers in a quantity of 0.3 g was allowed to swell in 20 ml of PBS and then sterilized at 115C
under 15 psi for 15 minutes.
The PBS is decanted and replaced by warm culture medium.
For example, MEM (Minimum Essential Medium) with an addition of 8~ of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) serves as the culture medium. The bead suspensions transferred into culture vessels, and preferably into special spinner flasks. The volume was replenished with the culture medium + 8% of FBS to 100 ml, and then gas was passed into the batch, and the temperature was adjusted. Inoculation was effected with a cell inoculum of 1.3 x 10 GMK (Green Monkey Kidney) cells originating from passage No. 127 of the Institut f~r Virologie of the University of Cologne, West Germany, and had been pre-cultivated in plastic flasks containing culture medium for 5 days.
After an initial static phase of adhesion, a stirring speed of 30 rpm was adjusted. The medium was changed every 48 hours.

The cell growth was monitored through a period of 170 hours by removing the cells from the carriers by trypsinating and counting them in accordance with a modified Sanfort et al. method (J.
Natl. Cancer Inst. II, 737 (1951)). For comparison, the growth on the known Cytodex 1 microcarriers was determined at the same 1269~ CAW-19148 time. ~he result is seen from Fig. 2. It is apparent fro~ Fig-

2 that the growth on the new microcarriers is good even at a high charge capacity.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A cell culture microcarrier having a pK of 5-8 and having positively charged chemical portions comprising cross-linked polysaccharides and positively charged basic groups linked therewith, said positively charged basic groups having the formula (I):
(I) wherein z is a hydrocarbon chain having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, R1 and R2 are the same or different and represent C1-4 alkyl, and n is 1 to 4.

2. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 1, wherein Z is an ethylene group, R1 and R2 each represent an ethyl group, and n is 1.

3. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 1, wherein said positively charged basic groups have been neutralized by physiologically compatible anions.

4. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 2, wherein said positively charged basic groups have been neutralized by physiologically compatible anions.

5. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 1, wherein Z
contains 2, 3 or 4 carbon atoms.

6. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 5, wherein n is 1, 2 or 3.

7. The cell culture microcarrier of claim 5 or 6, wherein said positively charged basic groups have been neutralized by physiologically compatible anions.

8. A method for preparing a cell culture microcarrier having a pK of 5-8 and having positively charged chemical portions comprising cross-linked polysaccharides and basic groups linked therewith comprising pouring an aqueous alka-line suspension of a cross-linked polysaccharide into a suspension medium and reacting said cross-linked polysac-charide with an at least two times molar excess of a compound of the formula (II):

(II) wherein Z is a hydrocarbon chain having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, R1 and R2 are the same or different and represent C1-4 alkyl, and Y is a reactive group, while stirring, and subsequently neutralizing positively charged basic groups with physio-logically compatible anions.

9. A process for cultivating anchorage-dependent cells in a microcarrier culture comprising cultivating anchorage-dependent cells with the cell culture microcarrier of claim 1, 2 or 3.

10. A process for cultivating anchorage-dependent cells in a microcarrier culture comprising cultivating anchorage-dependent cells with the cell culture microcarrier of claim 4.

11. A process for cultivating anchorage-dependent cells in a microcarrier culture comprising cultivating anchorage-dependent cells with the cell culture microcarrier of claim 5 or 6.