Meeting market demands is a constant challenge in bioprocessing and often requires improvements to cell culture productivity. Spherical microcarriers support higher cell growth by providing a high surface-to-volume ratio. SoloHill® Microcarriers promote excellent anchorage-dependent cell line attachment, growth and have been used to produce animal and human health products for over 30 years. They fit into any process involving adherent cells and are an excellent choice for scaling up projects with limited process development timelines and capital investment.
Sartorius offers four types of high-performing certified animal component-free SoloHill® microcarriers for researchers and industrials who require a completely serum-free media and animal product-free process. The beads — made of a solid core matrix — support the robust growth of anchorage-dependent cells. Surface charge further enhances cell attachment.
Hillex® II
Plastic
Plastic Plus
Star-Plus
Description
Modified Polystyrene
Cross-linked Polystyrene
Surface Charge
Yes, Cationic charged
No
Yes, Cationic-charged
Yes
Part Number Prefix
H-170
P-221
P-215
PP-221
SP-221
Size Range
150 – 210 µm
125-212 µm
90-150 µm
125 - 212 µm
Specific Gravity
1.080 - 1.150
1.022 - 1.030
1.020 - 1.035
Nominal Surface Area
515 cm2
360 cm2
480 cm2
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Animal collagen has proved to be a useful promoter of cell attachment and growth in monolayer cultures of adherent cell lines. SoloHill® animal protein containing microcarriers can be easily moved between collagen-based monolayers, more space-efficient 3D cultures and are ideal for cell attachment kinetics across a wide variety of tested cell lines.
Collagen
FACT III
Coating
Type 1 porcine collagen
Surface modified Type 1 porcine collagen
C-215
C-221
C-421
F-221
90 - 150 µm
1.034 - 1.046
The cationic amine-modified microporous surface of the Hillex® II microcarriers with polystyrene core improves cell attraction and attachment without affecting cell harvest efficiency.
Compared to porous microcarriers, styrene copolymer microcarriers are constructed from solid non-toxic plastic which prevents absorption of toxic byproducts and makes harvesting simple with cell viabilities typically greater than 95%. The plastic beads allow for easy process transfer out of traditional styrene labware methods such as roller bottles and monolayers.
Incorporated with an electric charge, the Plastic Plus microcarriers strengthen cell attraction and attachment. Like the non-toxic Plastic microcarriers, Plastic Plus are solidly constructed from styrene copolymer and harvest cell viabilities are typically greater than 95%.
Star-Plus microcarriers are positively charged, rigid, spherical and animal protein-free. They foster quick cell attachment and excellent growth of multiple cell types under a variety of environmental conditions, making them ideal for incorporation into single-use manufacturing processes. Each manufactured lot of Star-Plus microcarriers is performance-tested for cell attachment and growth.
SoloHill® Collagen-Coated microcarriers promote rapid attachment and growth for a large variety of anchorage-dependent cell lines
FACT microcarriers have improved attachment kinetics and proprietary surface modification for enhanced growth performance.
Sartorius offers a complete scalable bioreactor platform from cell and strain line development to commercial manufacturing.
Sartorius solutions provide robust and efficient performance for MSC therapy applications.
Microcarrier
Master File Number
Hillex®
27283
27282
27281
Star Plus
27284
26999
27280
Microcarriers are widely used to promote the growth of anchorage-dependent cells. SoloHill® microcarriers have proven efficiency in various industries such as:
FDA-licensed human therapeutics
USDA-licensed animal vaccines
Thyroid cancer diagnostic
Equine influenza
Thyroid cancer therapy
Canine parvovirus
Beta interferon – MS indication
Feline leukemia and many others
Cell Line
Plastic & Plastic-Plus
Collagen- Coated
Charged Collagen- Coated
VERO
Monkey kidney
CEF
Chick embryo fibroblast
ST
Swine testes
BT
Bovine turbinate
P4RSF
Rabbit skin fibroblast
MRC-5
Human diploid fibroblast
KB
Human epithelial carcinoma
HFF
Human foreskin fibroblast
UMSCC
Human squamous carcinoma
MDBK
Madin-Darby bovine kidney
CHO
Chinese hamster ovary
MDCK
Madin-Darby canine kidney
hMSC
Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Microcarriers are support matrices that enable the culture of adherent cells in bioreactors. Rather than growing on a flat surface, cells are cultivated on the surface of small spherical beads (microcarriers), each carrying several hundred cells, significantly increasing the cell expansion capacity. Microcarrier-based cell culture systems promote higher cell yields and are relatively flexible as they can be integrated into existing bioprocess systems such as stirred bioreactors and spinner flasks.
Microcarriers are microporous beads, typically less than 500 μm in diameter, with a surface that promotes efficient attachment and spreading of cells. Microcarrier beads can support the production of significant amounts of cells due to their large surface area. Therefore, they are a convenient solution for producing vaccines and other biologics. They were one of the first methods used for supporting large-scale mammalian cell culture.
Using the Allegro STR 50 L bioreactor to generate and expand hMSCs on collagen microcarriers
Presterilized, ready-to-use microcarriers can speed production and reduce contamination risk. Learn how AMDS can save your time and money.
Learn how SoloHill® Microcarriers can support MRC-5 cell growth in stirred vessels with potential for scale-up to large bioreactors.
SoloHill® Microcarriers can help you scale up with limited process development timelines
4Cell® NutriVero™ Flex 10 is a chemically defined, serum-free, animal component-free medium, designed to support Vero cell growth.
NutriStem® MSC XF is a serum-free, xeno-free medium optimized for the growth and expansion of hMSCs from a variety of sources.
Build your ideal bundle for cell culture with our selection of media, growth factors, cytokines, and microcarriers.
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