Kinetic study on HBs-MAb production in continuous cultivation.

Continuous cultivation of mouse-mouse hybridoma, T0405 cells producing an IgG monoclonal antibody (MAb) against hepatitis B surface antigen, was carried out in a membrane reactor with partial cell bleeding. By changing cell bleeding rate, viable cell concentrations were maintained at a high level in the range of 1.0 x 10(6) to 4.0 x 10(6) ml-1, which is difficult to attain in a conventional continuous culture. The characteristics of MAb production, and metabolism of glucose and glutamine at high cell density were investigated under steady state. This cell line's MAb production was found to be growth associated. The calculation of ammonia yield on glutamine showed that ammonia was mainly produced when glutamine was used for cell maintenance, while lactate yield on glucose used for cell growth was higher than that for cell maintenance.