Linoleic acid improves the robustness of cells in agitated cultures.

The murine hybridoma (CC9C10) was subjected to high shear rates in a spinner flask to determine the effect of various culture additives on cell survival. At 500 rpm, the half-life of the viable cell concentration in a low protein serum-free medium was 50 min. Both bovine serum albumin and Pluronic F-68 had a significant effect in protecting cells under these conditions. The effects of the two supplements were additive, so that in the presence of both supplements there was minimal cell damage at 500 rpm. The survival rate of cells grown in media supplemented with linoleic acid improved significantly under high stirring rates. Cells grown for one passage in 50 muM linoleic acid and stirred at 500 rpm had a significantly higher survival rate than control cells. For cells grown over 5 passages in 25 muM linoleic acid, the survival rate at 470 rpm was x3 greater than that determined for control cells. This difference gradually decreased at higher stirring rates up to 610 rpm when the half-life of the viable cell population was reduced to approximately 10 min. Supplementation of cultures with linoleic acid has previously been shown to result in incorporation into all three cellular lipid fractions - polar, non-polar and free fatty acid (Butler et al., 1997). Our explanation for the increased survivability of the cells at high agitation rates in the presence of linoleic acid is that the structural lipid components of the cell including the outer membrane attained a higher unsaturated/saturated ratio which was more robust than that of control cells.