The effectiveness of a novel cartridge-based bioreactor design in supporting liver cells.

There are a number of applications--ranging from temporary strategies for organ failure to pharmaceutical testing--that rely on effective bioreactor designs. The significance of these devices is that they provide an environment for maintaining cells in a way that allows them to perform key cellular and tissue functions. In the current study, a novel cartridge-based bioreactor was developed and evaluated. Its unique features include its capacity for cell support and the adaptable design of its cellular space. Specifically, it is able to accommodate functional and reasonably sized tissue (>2.0 x 10(8) cells), and can be easily modified to support a range of anchorage-dependent cells. To evaluate its efficacy, it was applied to liver support in the current study. This involved evaluating the performance of rat primary hepatocytes within the unique cartridges in culture--sans bioreactor--and after being loaded within the novel bioreactor. Compared to collagen sandwich culture functional controls, hepatocytes within the unique cartridge design demonstrated significantly higher albumin production and urea secretion rates when cultured under dynamic flow conditions--reaching peak values of 170 +/- 22 microg/10(6) cells/day and 195 +/- 18 microg/10(6) cells/day, respectively. The bioreactor's effectiveness in supporting live and functioning primary hepatocytes is also presented. Cell viability at the end of 15 days of culture in the new bioreactor was 84 +/- 18%, suggesting that the new design is effective in maintaining primary hepatocytes for at least 2 weeks in culture. Liver-specific functions of urea secretion, albumin synthesis, and cytochrome P450 activity were also assessed. The results indicate that hepatocytes are able to achieve good functional performance when cultured within the novel bioreactor. This is especially true in the case of cytochrome P450 activity, where by day 15 of culture, hepatocytes within the bioreactor reached values that were 56.6% higher than achieved by the collagen sandwich functional control cultures. The success of the novel cartridge-based bioreactor in supporting hepatocytes with good viability and functional performance suggests that it is an effective design for supporting anchorage-dependent cells.