Large-Scale Expansion and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Microcarrier-Based Stirred Bioreactors

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as an important tool for tissue engineering, thanks to their differentiation potential and their broad trophic activities. However, for clinical purposes or for relevant in vitro applications, large quantities of MSCs are required, which could hardly be reached using conventional cultivation in plastic dishes. Microcarriers have high surface to volume ratio, which enables the easy scale-up of the expansion and differentiation of MSCs. In addition, the agitation in stirred tank bioreactors limits the diffusion gradient of nutrients or morphogens, thus providing a physiologically relevant environment to favor MSC production at large scale. This work describes a simple method for the mass expansion and differentiation of MSCs, including the procedures to monitor the proliferation, metabolic status and phenotype of MSCs during suspension culture. Moreover, this work proposes suitable materials for cGMP compliant culture conditions enabling the clinical grade production of MSCs.