Abstract
Human olfactory mucosa cells (hOMCs) have potential as a regenerative
therapy for spinal cord injury. In our earlier work we derived the PA5
cells, a polyclonal population that retains functional attributes of
primary OMCs. Microcarrier suspension culture is an alternative to
planar 2D culture to produce cells in quantities that can meet the needs
of clinical development. This study aimed to screen the effects of 10
microcarriers on PA5 hOMCs yield and phenotype. Studies performed in
well plates led to a 2.9-fold higher cell yield on Plastic compared to
Plastic Plus microcarriers with upregulation of neuronal markers β-III
tubulin and nestin for both conditions. Microcarrier suspension culture
resulted in concentrations of 1.4x105 cells/mL and
4.9x104 cells/mL for Plastic and Plastic Plus,
respectively, after 7 days. p75NTR transcript was
significantly upregulated for PA5 hOMCs grown on Plastic Plus compared
to Plastic. Furthermore, co-culture of PA5 hOMCs grown on Plastic Plus
with a neuronal cell line (NG108-15) led to increased neurite outgrowth.
This study presents the successful expansion of PA5 cells using
microcarrier suspension culture and it reveals competing effects of
microcarriers on cell expansion versus functional attributes, showing
that designing scalable bioprocesses should not only be driven by cell
yields.