Production of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Antigen Using Suspension-Adapted BHK-21 Cells in a Bioreactor.

Abstract

The baby hamster kidney-21 (BHK-21) cell line is a continuous cell line used to propagate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus for vaccine manufacturing. BHK-21 cells are anchorage-dependent, although suspension cultures would enable rapid growth in bioreactors, large-scale virus propagation, and cost-effective vaccine production with serum-free medium. Here, we report the successful adaptation of adherent BHK-21 cells to growth in suspension to a viable cell density of 7.65 × 106 cells/mL on day 3 in serum-free culture medium. The suspension-adapted BHK-21 cells showed lower adhesion to five types of extracellular matrix proteins than adherent BHK-21 cells, which contributed to the suspension culture. In addition, a chemically defined medium (selected by screening various prototype media) led to increased FMD virus production yields in the batch culture, even at a cell density of only 3.5 × 106 cells/mL. The suspension BHK-21 cell culture could be expanded to a 200 L bioreactor from a 20 mL flask, which resulted in a comparable FMD virus titer. This platform technology improved virus productivity, indicating its potential for enhancing FMD vaccine production.

• Authors: Soonyong Park, Ji Yul Kim, Kyoung-Hwa Ryu, Ah-Young Kim, Jaemun Kim, Young-Joon Ko, Eun Gyo Lee
• Journal: Vaccines (Vaccines (Basel)) Vol. 9 Issue 5 (May 13 2021) ISSN: 2076-393X [Print] Switzerland
• PMID: 34068378 (Publication Type: Journal Article)