Novel fluid shear-based dissociation device for improved single cell dissociation of spheroids and cell aggregates

Biological industries commonly rely on bioreactor systems for the large-scale production of cells. Cell aggregation, clumping, and spheroid morphology of certain suspension cells make their large-scale culture challenging. Growing stem cells as spheroids is indispensable to retain their stemness, but large spheroids (>500 µm diameter) suffer from poor oxygen and nutrient diffusion, ultimately resulting in premature cell death in the centers of the spheroids. Despite this, most large-scale bioprocesses do not have an efficient method for dissociating cells into single cells, but rely on costly enzymatic dissociation techniques. Therefore, we tested a proof-of-concept fluid shear-based mechanical dissociator that was designed to dissociate stem cell spheroids and aggregates. Our prototype was able to dissociate cells while retaining high viability and low levels of apoptosis. The dissociator also did not impact long-term cell growth or spheroid formation. Thus, the dissociator introduced here has the potential to replace traditional dissociation methods. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:293-298, 2018.