Benefits of using a Multitest-Analyzer for monitoring mammalian suspension cultures

Besides key parameters like pH and Glucose these are amongst others CO2 and O2 saturations. Excess CO2 can increase the acidity of your culture, while hyperoxia can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hypoxia can result in decreased viability.

BioProfile® FLEX2 calculates these saturations by measuring the partial pressures of CO2 (pCO2) and O2 (pO2) in the sample.

Also monitoring electrolytes can be beneficial:

Sodium and Potassium are responsible for maintaining a membrane potential. Calcium is important for proliferation, cell adhesion and cell signaling. Reduction of Calcium can decrease forming of aggregates (clumping) in some cell lines.

Glucose is the primary energy and carbon source for many cell lines and Lactate is a by-product of Glucose metabolism. Glucose deficiency and/or excess Lactate can inhibit cell growth. Lactate production results in the release of protons, which increase pH, thereby increasing osmolality from base additions.

Glutamine and Glutamate are amino acids that are used for protein synthesis. Glutamine is also used as an additional energy source. Glutamate and Ammonia are by-products of Glutamine metabolism and can be harmful to cells in high concentrations.

Osmolality is a measure of the total ion concentration of solutions. The optimal osmolality level of cell suspension typically range from 270-330 mOsm/kg. Cells in hypotonic solutions can swell and burst. Cells in hypertonic solutions may shrivel and die.

Amongst total-, live cell density and cell viability (CDV), BioProfile® FLEX2 is also capable to detect the cell diameter with its integrated CDV module, utilizing digital imaging in combination with the Trypan Blue method, which is considered as Gold Standard to determine cell viability.

Unlike analyzers of other manufacturers that are based on clinical diagnostic systems for photometric analysis of serum and plasma samples, BioProfile® FLEX2 does not require manual sample preparation like filtration, centrifugation or dilution. This allows simultaneous determination of pH/gases, electrolytes, metabolites, osmolality and cell density/viability (CDV) from a single sample, drawn directly from a bioreactor, within a few minutes.