title: Co-culture of the 55-6 B cell hybridoma with the EL-4 thymoma cell. Effect on cell growth and monoclonal antibody production.
abstract: The cell growth and monoclonal antibody production of the 55-6 hybridoma cell co-cultured with the murine thymoma cell line EL-4 at different initial 55-6:EL-4 ratios were investigated. Both populations were seeded in co-culture without previous stimulation and therefore with low constitutive CD40 and CD40 ligand (CD154) expression levels, and in the absence of exogenous co-stimuli. Viable cell density and growth rate data seem to suggest a competition for nutrients, which is detrimental for both cells in terms of biomass production and also of growth rate for 55-6. Final concentrations of antibody and specific antibody production rates were affected by the initial 55-6:EL-4 ratio. The 4:1 ratio yielded the highest IgG2a concentration, whereas the highest specific antibody production rate was obtained at the 2:1 ratio. Changes mainly in CD154 and also in CD40 expression in co-cultures could suggest cross-talk between both populations. In conclusion, different types of interactions are probably present in this co-culture system: competition for nutrients, cognate interaction and/or autocrine or paracrine interactions that influence the proliferation of both cells and the hybridoma antibody secretion. We are hereby presenting a pre-scale-up process that could speed up the optimization of large-scale monoclonal antibodies production in bioreactors by emulating the in vivo cell-cell interaction between B and T cells without previous stimulation or the addition of co-stimulatory molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martín-López
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Acosta-López
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García-Camacho
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Contreras-Gómez
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Molina-Grima