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An investigation of small-molecule surfactants to potentially replace pluronic F-68 for reducing bubble-associated cell damage

✍ Scribed by Weiwei Hu; James J. Rathman; Jeffrey J. Chalmers


Book ID
101720093
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2008
Tongue
English
Weight
376 KB
Volume
101
Category
Article
ISSN
0006-3592

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✦ Synopsis


Abstract

It is well known that bubble rupture has a detrimental effect on mammalian cells. As a result, Pluronic F‐68 (PF‐68), a nonionic surfactant, is commonly used to reduce bubble‐associated cell damage in sparged bioreactors. While PF‐68 is currently effective, there is a concern with respect to its decrease in effectiveness as cell concentrations increase (Ma et al., 2004, Biotechnol Prog 20:1183–1191). In addition, having more than one effective surfactant for cell culture is also highly desirable. Given the empirical nature in which PF‐68 was initially discovered as a cell culture additive, a structure‐performance study of small molecule surfactants, a distinct group which have been previously investigated for other purposes, was performed in an attempt to find a replacement for PF‐68. In this study, a generic platform was established to initially screen both the type and concentration of these surfactants for cytotoxicity. Promising candidates where then evaluated for their ability to rapidly lower the surface tension (dynamic surface tension) of culture media and their ability to prevent cell‐bubble attachment in a specially developed bubble creation and collection system. Several promising small‐ molecule surfactants, and their effective concentration, were identified, which can reduce cell‐bubble attachment efficiently without being harmful to cells. Biotechnol. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 119–127. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.