TAYLOR VORTEX FLOW BIOREACTOR AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR MESENCHYMAL STROMAL CELL EXPANSION
It is expected that the high demand of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for clinical applications can only be met through production in bioreactors. Because of this, there has been increasing interest in new types of bioreactors with low hydrodynamic forces. One of the bioreactors that has been gaining much interest for the culture of MSCs is the Taylor Vortex Flow Bioreactor (TVFB). The present work aims to evaluate the performance of a TVFB in the expansion of a MSC anchored to microcarriers. For such a purpose, a bubble free TVFB was constructed with useful space between the two concentric cylinders of ̴̴60 mL and geometric characteristics L /(Dout- Din)= 3.74 and Din /Dout =0.67. The bioreactor was tested in cultures of the human stem cell line hMSC-TERT anchored to Cultispher®S with α-MEM culture medium supplemented with 15% of fetal bovine serum in a CO2 (0-5%) incubator at 37°C. The agitation rates used were 90, 100, 110 and 120 rpm of the inner cylinder. The results showed values of kLa in the range of 1.23-11.53 h-1 and spatially uniform shear rates in the order of 1 N.m-2 which may be considered better than those found in spinner flasks.