Serial cultivation of suspended BHK 21/13 cells in serum-reduced and serum-free medium supplemented with various membrane protective agents.

Suspended BHK 21/13 cells were cultivated in 6M medium supplemented with PVP, bovine serum, LAH, YE, choline chloride and inositol at several concentrations. The maximum working capacity of the bioreactors was 400 ml and the experiments were run for 40 days. The growth promoting effects of each substrate were determined by calculation of generation numbers (n) in each culture. Viability testing and morphological detection of the cells were realized by the trypan blue exclusion method. As a result, the membrane protective effect of PVP, as suggested by some authors, was confirmed and it was estimated that the positive effects of PVP on cell propagation in cultures were due to its protective activities.