Use of a new bead microcarrier for the culture of anchorage dependent cells in pseudo suspension.

The use of cross linked dextran beads having a surface charge produced using the method of Levine et al. (1976) is described. The new microcarriers require no pretreatment, and may be used at greater concentrations than those originally described by van Wezel (1967). Microcarrier cultures are initiated by inoculating cells into a stirred suspension of beads in culture medium. The cells spread over the surfaces of the beads, and follow typical growth curves. They may be harvested by conventional trypsinisation, and separated from denuded beads using a sintered glass filter. The beads may be regenerated and re-used. The beads have been found to be suitable for the growth of a variety of fibroblastoic cell types. It is suggested that the microcarriers are suited for bulk virus or metabolitic production from anchorage dependent cells.