Evaluation of porcine aortic valve interstitial cell activity using different serum types in two- and...

Unlike established cell lines used in the biotechnology industry, primary cells used in tissue engineering require culture media to be supplemented with serum. The most common serum is fetal bovine serum (FBS); however, FBS is expensive, negatively affecting process economics. Less-costly alternative sera are commercially available, but their efficacy has not been documented. Therefore, bovine calf serum (BCS), bovine growth serum (BGS), and newborn calf serum (NCS) were compared with FBS. Porcine aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs) were cultured as 2-dimensional (2-D) monolayers or as 3-dimensional (3-D) collagen gels using medium supplemented with 10% FBS, BGS, BCS, or NCS. No significant difference was seen in cellular activity between VICs cultured in BCS and those cultured in FBS in 2-D cultures, whereas cells cultured in BGS and NCS had significantly lower specific growth rates coupled with markedly higher metabolic activity than cells cultured in FBS. No statistically significant differences were seen in cellular activity between any of the sera when cells were cultured in 3-D constructs. In conclusion, BCS is a suitable alternative to FBS for the 2-D and 3-D culture of VICs, which may be used to develop a tissue-engineered valve.