The role of vitamins and amino acids on hybridoma growth and monoclonal antibody production

A balanced supplementation method was applied to develop a serum and protein- free medium supporting hybridoma cell batch culture. The aim was to improve systematically the initial formulation of the medium to prevent limitations due to unbalanced concentrations of vitamins and amino acids. In a first step, supplementation of the basal formulation with 13 amino acids, led to an increase of the specific IgA production rate from 0.60 to 1.07 pg cell(-1) h(-1). The specific growth rate remained unchanged, but the supplementation enabled maintenance of high cell viability during the stationary phase of batch cultures for some 70 h. Since IgA production was not growth- related, this resulted in an approximately4-fold increase in the final IgA concentration, from 26.6 to 100.2 mgl(-1). In a second step, the liposoluble vitamins E and K(3) were added to the medium formulation. Although this induced a slightly higher maximal cell concentration, it was followed by a sharp decline phase with the specific IgA production rate falling to 0.47 pg cell(-1) h(-1). However, by applying a second cycle of balanced supplementation with amino acids this decline phase could be reduced and a high cell viability maintained for over 300 h of culture. In this vitamin- and amino acid- supplemented medium, the specific IgA production rate reached a value of 1.10 pg cell(-1)h(-1) with a final IgA concentration of 129.8 mgl(-1). The latter represents an increase of approximately5-fold compared to the non- supplemented basal medium.