By Aziz Cayli, Burcu Tongul, Francis Nguyen, Adrien Lugari, and Érica Schulze
BHK-21 cell strains have been utilized for several years as a platform for veterinary vaccines and recombinant protein manufacturing. However, these cells are anchorage-dependent, requiring the use of dissociation agents that slow and are traumatic for cells while also creating scale-up limitations. By contrast, suspension culture facilitates large-scale processes, offers options for process intensification and contributes to reduced manufacturing costs due to less process complexity. BHK-21 suspension cells grown in serum-free media that produce high-virus titers are desirable in developing vaccines that are affordable worldwide.
Although some cell lines used in vaccine production still require serum supplementation, BHK-21 cultures have been shown to be propagated in serum-free media. The desire to remove potential uncontrolled contaminants, natural products and by-products from the culture led to the