Mammalian cells are the best at making recombinant proteins that can be used in medicine. They are very good at folding proteins properly and making changes that make the protein more like a human after it is made.
It’s interesting that up until now, all cell lines used to make biopharmaceutical proteins have been from animals. So, want to know more about how mammalian cells culture and the benefits you’ll get from them? If yes, then binge on till the end!
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How Does Mammalian Cell Culture Work?: An Overview
You need some cells, to begin with. Now, there are mainly two types of cells:
- Ones taken from an organism, like a person or animal
- Ones grew and even changed in the laboratory.
These are called “Cell Lines.” Usually, dishes or plates (made of a special material) are often used to give these cells a certain place to live.
Moreover, cells require a certain soup to grow and thrive. And it’s called “culture media” soup, and it’s full of sugars, amino acids, and vitamins. Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is another thing that scientists add to aid these cells in growing even better.
But whatever process is conducted, sterilization is a must! Everything needs to be very clean so that bacteria or any other foreign particles don’t interfere. Scientists use methods like cleaning and heating to ensure that the soup and all of the tools are pretty clean.
Once all these are done, it’s time to move the cells into their new home. Researchers usually count the cells and then put a certain amount of them into the flask or dish. In general, cells like a warm environment, so they are always put in a place that is damp and has the right carbon dioxide levels.
As the cells get bigger, scientists gradually transfer them to a far bigger area with new soup. This gives the cells free space to move around. Now, researchers will keep a close eye on the cells to ensure they’re perfectly healthy and unharmed.
To ensure everything is in process, certain tests are carried out. These cells are used by researchers for many different types of tests, such as producing proteins, studying genes, and trying new drugs.
Possible Benefits of Mammalian Cell Culture
The section here will entirely focus on the possible benefits of mammalian cell culture for biologics manufacturing.
- Biopharmaceuticals can be made in a pretty controlled and safe setting simply by using mammalian cell culture. This ensures that every batch of medicine is of high quality and works the same way each and every time. It means that patients have more consistent treatment results.
- Conditions like pH, temperature, and nutrient supply are very carefully controlled in cell culture, which makes the production process reliable and stable. This makes biopharmaceuticals that are all of the same quality and work the same way.
- In cell culture, the risk of contamination is greatly reduced by using controlled environments and sterile methods. It is essential to ensure that biopharmaceutical items or products are safe enough for patients and follow government rules.
- As dangerous microorganisms or other impurities can get into biopharmaceuticals, they may not work as well! To keep these risks to a minimum, cell culture centers follow strict rules for sterility and cleanliness
- Most importantly, mammalian cell culture methods are scalable, it means they can be changed in any way to make more biopharmaceuticals when required. To meet the high demand for medicines on a large scale, this ability to grow is quite necessary.
- As a medicine gets approved and is given to more patients, the amount that is made needs to rise up. Scaling up mammalian cell culture to make more of a product without changing its quality or even regularity is possible.
- When mammalian cells are used in culture methods, they make proteins that are quite similar to proteins found in humans. Now, due to this connection, it is possible to produce biopharmaceuticals that work well with the human body too!
For instance, monoclonal antibodies and many other biopharmaceuticals need proteins that are very similar to proteins that people naturally make. As they come mainly from animals, mammalian cells can make these proteins perfectly.
- Mammalian cell culture is a pretty flexible method that can be used to create many kinds of biopharmaceuticals, like vaccines, hormones, antibodies, and even enzymes. Due to this, researchers and even makers can use it to treat a lot of different medical issues.
- Since mammalian cell culture methods are flexible, they can be used to make a wide range of biopharmaceuticals. The scientists can change the cell lines and culture settings to fit the needs of each product.
- Mammalian cell culture has the ability to lead to personalized medicine by making it very possible to make biopharmaceuticals that are specific to the needs of each patient. This method could actually help treat rare diseases and illnesses that have special treatment needs.
Bottom Line
Now, after going through this blog, you should have a clear idea of the mammalian cell culture and how it actually works in the biopharma industry. The benefits it brings are uncountable and it can be said that mammalian cell culture has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in the biopharma industry.