Recovery of insect cells using hollow fiber microfiltration

An efficient method was developed for media separation and cell collection for eukaryotic cells growing in suspension. The method is based on tangential flow microfiltration using an open channel arrangement in a hollow fiber configuration. Best results (highest processing flux rate) for polysulfone hollow fibers were obtained using fibers with internal diameter of 0.75 mm, 0.45 microm pore size, and a cell suspension flow at a shear rate of 14000 s(-1) (0.032 L/min per fiber). A flux rate of 500 L/m(2) h can be obtained by maintaining the surface area/cell ratio at 0.05 m(2)/10 L of cells at a concentration of 2.5 x 10(6) cells/mL. Forty liters of infected insect cells can be concentrated 10 times in 20 min without affecting cell viability.