Continuous column culture system for adherent cells

A new continuous column culture system for adherent cells was developed using beads. The beads were packed in a column and an appropriate medium was continuously passed through. The whole system was kept under closed conditions. L cells and C6 cells were cultured by this new system. The number of cells increased linearly up to 16 days and reached a maximum at around 18 days. As the heat production remained constant for 16 days, it can be concluded that cells grown in this system had identical characteristics. The final concentration of cells reached was 1.0 x 10(8) ml-1. The cells could grow both in the upward and the downward direction. Advantages of this system are: (1) Cells can be recovered in their adherent form on the beads; (2) cells can easily be collected from the column by trypsinization, and (3) cells remaining in the column after trypsinization can grow again.