Background Expansion of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is one of the key steps for their use in tissue engineering or cell therapies. To increase cells expansion yields, two milestones have to be achieved that will allow a wider MSC therapeutic use, namely an optimal serum-free medium and a process intensification via 3D suspension culture on microcarriers [1]. Indeed, one of the major obstacl...

A primary skeletal muscle cell culture, in which myoblasts derived from newborn rabbit hindlimb muscles grow on gelatin bead microcarriers in suspension and differentiate into myotubes, has been established previously. In the course of differentiation and beginning spontaneous contractions, these multinucleated myotubes do not detach from their support. Here, we describe the development of the ...

The effects of spaceflight on cardiovascular health are not necessarily seen immediately after astronauts have returned but can be delayed. It is important to investigate the long term effects of spaceflight on protein and gene expression of inflammation and endothelial activation as a predictor for the development of atherosclerosis and potential cardiovascular problems. The objectives of this...

Bead-based assays on very large numbers of molecules in gene expression studies, drug screening and clinical diagnostics, require the encoding of each of the microspheres according to the particular ligand bound to its surface. This allows mixing the uniquely encoded microspheres and subjecting them to an assay simultaneously. When a particular microsphere gives a positive reaction, the substan...

The expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells as suspension culture by means of spinner flasks and microcarriers, compared to the cultivation in tissue culture flasks, offers the advantage of reducing the requirements of large incubator capacities as well as reducing the handling effort during cultivation and harvesting. Nonporous microcarriers are preferable when the cells need to be kept in v...

We present detailed quantitative measurement analyses for flow in a spinner flask with spinning rates between 20 to 45 RPM, utilizing the optical velocimetry measurement technique of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). A partial section of the impeller was immersed in the working fluid to reduce the shear forces induced on the cells cultured on microcarriers. Higher rotational speeds improved the...

Microcarriers have been proposed in tissue engineering, namely for bone, cartilage, skin, vascular, and central nervous system. Although polyester-based microcarriers have been already used for this purpose, their surface properties should be improved to provide better cell growth. The goal of this study was to prepare microbeads based on poly(D,L-lactide) acid, poly(L-lactide) acid, and to stu...

Background The growing demand for biologicals produced by animal cells motivates the development of more efficient and reliable culture production processes. In the particular case of the industrial production of viral vaccines by Vero cells adhered on microcarriers, the cell propagation phases are mainly devoted to reach high cell density in less time while maintaining a good cell physiologica...

Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is a progressive and chronic process, and the high incidence of discogenic disorders calls for new therapeutic approaches, such as cell-based therapies using three dimensional cultures and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), which can differentiate to chondrogenic- and IVD-lineages. Here, we investigated the growth and differentiation of human MSC culture...