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An investigation of small‐molecule surfactants to potentially replace pluronic F‐68 for reducing bubble‐associated cell damage
Author(s) -
Hu Weiwei,
Rathman James J.,
Chalmers Jeffrey J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.21872
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , bubble , poloxamer , surface tension , cell , cytotoxicity , cell culture , molecule , chemistry , biophysics , bioreactor , nanotechnology , chromatography , chemical engineering , materials science , biochemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , in vitro , biology , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , parallel computing , engineering , copolymer , genetics
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.