Controlling sheer stress in a suspension culture using qouette flow for efficient cell proliferation

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K14630
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Sakaguchi Katsuhisa 早稲田大学, 理工学術院, 准教授(任期付) (70468867)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: バイオ医薬 / 組織工学 / 再生医療 / 回転浮遊培養 / クエットフロー / バイオリアクター

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Biopharmaceuticals manufactured by applying genetic engineering, and regenerative medicine that creates tissues and organs from stem cells and treats them are drawing attention as the next generation medical treatment. However, the next generation medical treatment will be costed enormously and will be a socially severe problem. Therefore, in this research, we developed a novel culture method to easily grow a large number of cells by performing rotational suspension culture using Couette flow. Couette flow is a flow that occurs in the liquid in the gap between two concentric rotating cylinders, and is a very stable flow that generates uniform shear stress at all locations in the incubator. As a result, by performing the developed Couette flow culture, it succeeded in cell proliferation comparable to the normal culture dish. We have found a novel culture method for growing a large number of cells using this more convenient rotary suspension culture.

Free Research Field

組織工学、再生医療

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で開発したクエットフローを用いて回転浮遊培養を行う方法は、培養皿と同程度の細胞増殖効率の獲得に成功した。回転浮遊培養は、通常のポリスチレンの皿に細胞を接着させる培養方法に比べてコストが1/3、作業時間1/10になるため、細胞製造費において大幅な改善が見込める。以上のことから、本研究では大量の細胞を増殖させつつ簡便な新規回転浮遊培養を見出すことで、社会的に大きな負担となることが懸念されている次世代医療の膨大な費用を大幅に改善させる可能性を見い出した。