P46: Nutrients for insect cell lines

The baculovirus expression system involving Spodoptera frugiperda cell lines, Sf9 and Sf21 is used for the expression of recombinant proteins. The ability of the baculovirus expression system to post-translationally modify expressed proteins provides a clear advantage over the bacterial systems. The yield of the recombinant proteins obtainable in this expression system is highly dependent on the health and growth characteristics of the cell lines.  Serum free growth medium have been used for expression and maintenance of the Sf9 and Sf21 cells as they provide highly nutritive environment that allows consistently high expression of recombinant proteins.  The essential components of these media are yeast extract and peptones that support the growth of the cells and provide nutrients during protein expression.  However, there is great variability in the ability of different media to support growth of both Sf9 and Sf21 cell lines.  Batch to batch variability can also affect the health/viability of the cell lines and therefore, affect the yield of recombinant proteins.

            At Sensient Bio-Ingredients we have determined the ability of our broad portfolio of yeast extracts, vegetable and casein peptones and their combinations to support the growth of both Sf9 and Sf21 cell lines.  We have monitored the ability of these nutrients to support the growth of both cell lines by determining the time to peak, viable cell densities and percent viable cells. We will report on the development of a new product that minimizes batch to batch variation and supports the growth of both the cell lines equally well.