Edible microcarriers, including microcarrier beads, microspheres and microsponges, appropriate for use in a bioreactor to culture cells that may be used to form a comestible engineered meat product. For example, the edible microcarriers described herein may include porous microcarriers that may be used to grow cells (e.g., smooth muscle cells) and may be included with the cells in the final engineered meat product, without requiring modification or removal of the cells from the microcarriers. In a particular example, the edible microcarriers may be formed of cross-linked pectin, such as pectin-thiopropionylamide (PTP), and RGD-containing polypeptide, such as thiolated cardosin A. Methods of forming edible microcarriers, methods of using the edible microcarriers to make engineered meat, and engineered meat including the edible microcarriers are also described herein.

The present invention provides, inter alia, an isolated cell line, 3M as well as methods for making such a cell line and methods of using such a cell line, e.g., to produce a protein such as an immunoglobulin.

The present invention relates to animal protein-free cell culture media comprising polyamines and a plant- and/or yeast-derived hydrolysate. The invention also relates to animal protein-free culturing processes, wherein cells can be cultivated, propagated and passaged without adding supplementary animal proteins in the culture medium. These processes are useful in cultivating cells, such as recombinant cells or cells infected with a virus, and for producing biological products by cell culture processes.

The present invention provides a method for upstream optimization the large-scale parvovirus production, preferably the oncolytic protoparvovirus H-1 (H-1PV). It is based on microcarriers or macrocarriers and their respective use in suspension or fixed-bed, an optimized cell culture medium, and a medium exchange strategy. In summary, with the optimized cell culture medium and the new medium exchange strategy, the inventors established a reduction in seeded cell density and animal serum, leading to an animal serum-free harvest. The tested carriers are best suited for a high H-1PV yield, cell growth, and bead-to-bead transfer capability, wherein the inventors additionally scaled up the process from 24-well plates to Erlenmeyer, Spinner flask and iCellis nano. As a conclusion, the present invention provides a large-scale method for producing the oncolytic protoparvovirus H-1 with a high virus yield, while lowering production costs and avoiding undesired products of animal origin at the same time.

The present disclosure provides methods of generating germ layers from stem cells comprising culturing the stem cells in a culture media having osmolality ranges that promote the generation of specific germ layer progenitor cells. The present disclosure also includes a method to generate different cell lineages from the germ layers as well as to detect them by immunological methods. The present disclosure further provides methods for the generation, isolation, cultivation and propagation of committed progenitor cells and for the production of differentiated cells from the three germ layers. The present disclosure also provides culture media and kits for use in inducing the three germ layers.

The invention relates to a method for producing tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) with specific antigens, comprising the steps of: (a) culturing precursors of dendritic cells in an animal-serum-free medium, using cytokines, IL-4 and GM-CSF, in order to differentiate same in dendritic cells; (b) producing apoptotic cells; (c) culturing the dendritic cells obtained in step (b) in the presence of compounds having anti-inflammatory activity; (d) co-culturing the dendritic cells from step (d) with the apoptotic cells from step (c), such as to stimulate the endocytosis of the apoptotic cells by the dendritic cells; (e) and, by means of identification based on phenotypic evaluation, determining the production of tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) with specific antigens. The invention also relates to the tolDC cells produced with said method and to the use of said tolDCs with specific antigens in the production of a drug suitable for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Provided is an isolated population of human pluripotent stem cells comprising at least 50% human pluripotent stem cells characterized by an OCT4+/TRA1-60/TRA1-81/SSEA1+/SSEA4 expression signature, and novel methods of generating and maintaining same in a pluripotent, undifferentiated state a suspension culture devoid of cell clumps. Also provided are novel culture media, cell cultures and methods for culturing pluripotent stem cells in a suspension culture or a two-dimensional culture system while maintaining the cells in a proliferative, pluripotent and undifferentiated state. The novel culture media comprise interleukin 11 (IL11) and Ciliay Neurotrophic Factor (CNTF); bFGF at a concentration of at least 50 ng/ml and an IL6RIL6 chimera; or an animal contaminant-free serum replacement and an IL6RIL6 chimera. Also provided are methods for generating lineage-specific cells from the pluripotent stem cells.

We describe cell culture media for in vitro culture of a human cancer cell of the lymphocyte lineage (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma, or other blasts) or a precursor thereof, especially T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia lymphoma (T-ALL), as well as methods for at least maintenance, propagation, or both of the human cancer cell or its precursor.

The invention relates to a process for the culturing of cells, preferably E1-immortalized HER cells, more preferably PER.C6 cells in a reactor in suspension in a cell culture medium, wherein the cells produce a biological substance, preferably an antibody, wherein at least one cell culture medium component is fed to the cell culture and wherein the cell culture comprising the cells, the biological substance and cell culture medium is circulated over a separation system and wherein the separation system separates the biological substance from substances having a lower molecular weight than the biological substance and wherein the biological substance is retained in or fed back into the reactor. Preferably part of the substances of lower molecular weight is continuously removed from the cell culture.

The present invention provides, inter alia, an isolated cell line, 3M as well as methods for making such a cell line and methods of using such a cell line, e.g., to produce a protein such as an immunoglobulin.