Application of quantitative image analysis to a mammalian cell line grown on microcarriers

Quantitative image analysis has been applied to the monitoring of cultures of a mammalian cell line on microcarriers. Procedures have been developed to investigate microcarrier colonization and cluster formation and to determine the eventual modification of cell size during cultivation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) microphotography. The human kidney tumor cells (TCL 598) on which the procedures were tested underwent a slight size decrease during the development of the first cell layer on the microcarriers. The cluster size and the cell size remained constant during the culture stationary phase.