Growth and exopolysaccharide production during free and immobilized cell chemostat culture of Lactobacillus rhamnosus RW-9595M

AIMS: Biomass and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production were studied during chemostat cultures in whey permeate medium with Lactobacillus rhamnosus RW-9595M-free cells and cells immobilized on solid porous supports (ImmobaSil). METHODS AND RESULTS: A continuous culture with free cells was conducted for 9 days at dilution rates (D) between 0.3 and 0.8 h(-1) in yeast extract (YE)/mineral supplemented whey permeate. Maximum EPS production (1808 mg l(-1)) and volumetric productivity (542.6 mg l(-1) h(-1)) were obtained for a low D of 0.3 h(-1). A continuous fermentation in a two-stage bioreactor system, composed of a first stage with immobilized cells and a second stage inoculated with free cells produced in the first reactor, was carried out for 32 days. The influence of YE concentration, temperature and dilution rate, and their interactions on biomass, EPS and lactic acid production was investigated. A statistically significant model was found only for lactic acid production. Marked cell morphological and physiological changes led to the formation of very large cell-containing aggregates and a low mean soluble EPS production (138 mg l(-1)). Aggregate volumetric productivity of the two-stage system varied between 5.7 and 49.5 g l(-1) h(-1) for different fermentation conditions and times. Aggregates contained a very high biomass concentration, estimated at 74% of aggregate dry weight by nitrogen analysis and 4.3 x 10(12) CFU g(-1) by a DNA extraction method and a high nonsoluble polysaccharide content (14.2%). At age 24 days, insoluble EPS concentration and volumetric productivity were 1250 mg l(-1) and 2240 mg l(-1) h(-1) respectively. The physiological changes were shown to be reversible when cells were incubated during three successive batch cultures. CONCLUSIONS: EPS production and volumetric productivity during continuous free-cell chemostat cultures with L. rhamnosus RW-9595M are among the highest values reported for lactobacilli in literature. Immobilization and continuous culture resulted in low soluble EPS production and large morphological and physiological changes of L. rhamnosus RW-9595M, with formation of macroscopical aggregates mainly composed of biomass and nonsoluble EPS. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first study on continuous EPS production by immobilized LAB. Immobilization and culture time-induced cell aggregation and could be used to produce new synbiotic products with very high viable cell and EPS concentrations.     

High concentration cultivation of Bifidobacterium bifidum in a submerged membrane bioreactor

In batch cultures, after 25 h, the maximum cell mass of Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 was 4.5 g/L, and the maximum cell count was 3.0 x 10(9) cfu/mL at pH 6.0 and 50 g/L sucrose. To increase the viable counts of bifidobacteria, cell retentive culture was applied using a submerged membrane bioreactor with suction and gas sparging. The maximum mass, count, and productivity of the cells after 36 h were 12.0 g/L, 2.2 x 10(10) cfu/mL, and 6.1 x 10(8) cfu/mL x h, respectively, at the feeding (dilution) rate of 120 mL/h (0.06 h-1) in the feeding medium. The accumulated levels of organic acids and ammonium ions at the end of the cultivation were 1.5 and 1.0 g/L, respectively. The viable counts and volumetric productivity of the cells after the cell retentive culture were 7.3- and 5.1-fold higher, respectively, than the values obtained during batch culture. These high viable counts and volumetric productivities were obtained by maintaining lower concentrations of organic acids and ammonium ions so that the growth of B. bifidum BGN4 was not inhibited. The submerged membrane bioreactor produced the highest viable counts of B. bifidum without membrane fouling and cell damage.     

High production of acetone-butanol-ethanol with high cell density culture by cell-recycling and bleeding

A continuous acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production system with high cell density obtained by cell-recycling of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 has been studied. In conventional continuous culture of ABE without cell-recycling, the cell concentration was below 5.2 g l(-1) and the maximum ABE productivity was only 1.85 g l(-1)h(-1) at a dilution rate of 0.20 h(-1). To obtain a high cell density at a faster rate, we concentrated the solventogenic cells of the broth 10 times by membrane filtration and were able to obtain approximately 20 g l(-1) of active cells after only 12h of cultivation. Continuous culture with cell-recycling was then started, and the cell concentration increased gradually through cultivation to a value greater than 100 g l(-1). The maximum ABE productivity of 11.0 gl(-1)h(-1) was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.85 h(-1). However, a cell concentration greater than 100 gl(-1) resulted in heavy bubbling and broth outflow, which made it impossible to carry out continuous culture. Therefore, to maintain a stable cell concentration, cell-bleeding was performed together with cell-recycling. At dilution rates of 0.11h(-1) and above for cell-bleeding, continuous culture with cell-recycling could be operated for more than 200 h without strain degeneration and the overall volumetric ABE productivity of 7.55 gl(-1)h(-1) was achieved at an ABE concentration of 8.58 gl(-1).     

Enhanced spore production ofBacillus thuringiensis by fed-batch culture

Summary Fed-batch culture was carried out to increase cell mass followed by batch culture for spore production ofbacillus thuringiensis. High cell mass obtained by increasing the feeding glucose concentration in constant fed-batch culture which supported fast cell growth resulted in good sporulation during subsequent batch culture, and the maximum cell mass of 72.6 g/L and spore concentration of 1.25×10¹⁰ spores/mL could be obtained.     

A procedure for high-yield spore production by Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis spores have a number of potential applications, which include their use as probiotics and competitive exclusion agents to control zoonotic pathogens in animal production. The effect of cultivation conditions on Bacillus subtilis growth and sporulation was investigated in batch bioreactions performed at a 2-L scale. Studies of the cultivation conditions (pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, and media composition) led to an increase of the maximum concentration of vegetative cell from 2.6 x 10(9) to 2.2 x 10(10) cells mL(-)(1) and the spore concentration from 4.2 x 10(8) to 5.6 x 10(9) spores mL(-)(1). A fed-batch bioprocess was developed with the addition of a nutrient feeding solution using an exponential feeding profile obtained from the mass balance equations. Using the developed feeding profile, starting at the middle of the exponential growth phase and finishing in the late exponential phase, an increase of the maximum vegetative cell concentration and spore concentration up to 3.6 x 10(10) cells mL(-)(1) and 7.4 x 10(9) spores mL(-)(1), respectively, was obtained. Using the developed fed-batch bioreaction a 14-fold increase in the concentration of the vegetative cells was achieved. Moreover, the efficiency of sporulation under fed-batch bioreaction was 21%, which permitted a 19-fold increase in the final spore concentration, to a final value of 7.4 x 10(9) spores mL(-)(1). This represents a 3-fold increase relative to the highest reported value for Bacillus subtilis spore production.     

Enhanced microbial lipid production by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptococcus albidus</Emphasis> in the high-cell-density continuous cultivation with membrane cell recycling and two-stage nutrient limitation

As a potential feedstock for biofuel production, a high-cell-density continuous culture for the lipid production by Cryptococcus albidus was investigated in this study. The influences of dilution rates in the single-stage continuous cultures were explored first. To reach a high-cell-density culture, a single-stage continuous culture coupled with a membrane cell recycling system was carried out at a constant dilution rate of 0.36/h with varied bleeding ratios. The maximum lipid productivity of 0.69 g/L/h was achieved with the highest bleeding ratio of 0.4. To reach a better lipid yield and content, a two-stage continuous cultivation was performed by adjusting the C/N ratio in two different stages. Finally, a lipid yield of 0.32 g/g and lipid content of 56.4% were obtained. This two-stage continuous cultivation, which provided a higher lipid production performance, shows a great potential for an industrial-scale biotechnological production of microbial lipids and biofuel production.     

Perfusion culture of hybridoma cells for hyperproduction of IgG(2a) monoclonal antibody in a wave bioreactor-perfusion culture system

A novel wave bioreactor-perfusion culture system was developed for highly efficient production of monoclonal antibody IgG2a (mAb) by hybridoma cells. The system consists of a wave bioreactor, a floating membrane cell-retention filter, and a weight-based perfusion controller. A polyethylene membrane filter with a pore size of 7 microm was floating on the surface of the culture broth for cell retention, eliminating the need for traditional pump around flow loops and external cell separators. A weight-based perfusion controller was designed to balance the medium renewal rate and the harvest rate during perfusion culture. BD Cell mAb Medium (BD Biosciences, CA) was identified to be the optimal basal medium for mAb production during batch culture. A control strategy for perfusion rate (volume of fresh medium/working volume of reactor/day, vvd) was identified as a key factor affecting cell growth and mAb accumulation during perfusion culture, and the optimal control strategy was increasing perfusion rate by 0.15 vvd per day. Average specific mAb production rate was linearly corrected with increasing perfusion rate within the range of investigation. The maximum viable cell density reached 22.3 x 105 and 200.5 x 105 cells/mL in the batch and perfusion culture, respectively, while the corresponding maximum mAb concentration reached 182.4 and 463.6 mg/L and the corresponding maximum total mAb amount was 182.4 and 1406.5 mg, respectively. Not only the yield of viable cell per liter of medium (32.9 x 105 cells/mL per liter medium) and the mAb yield per liter of medium (230.6 mg/L medium) but also the mAb volumetric productivity (33.1 mg/L.day) in perfusion culture were much higher than those (i.e., 22.3 x 105 cells/mL per liter medium, 182.4 mg/L medium, and 20.3 mg/L.day) in batch culture. Relatively fast cell growth and the perfusion culture approach warrant that high biomass and mAb productivity may be obtained in such a novel perfusion culture system (1 L working volume), which offers an alternative approach for producing gram quantity of proteins from industrial cell lines in a liter-size cell culture. The fundamental information obtained in this study may be useful for perfusion culture of hybridoma cells on a large scale.     

Cell retention-chemostat studies of hybridoma cells-analysis of hybridoma growth and metabolism in continuous suspension culture in serum-free medium

The steady-state metabolic parameters for a hybridoma cell line have been determined in continuous suspension-perfusion culture over a wide range of perfusion rates and cell bleed rates. Significant increases in viable cell concentrations and volumetric productivities were achieved at high perfusion rates and low cell bleed rates. At the low growth rates examined in this study, cellular metabolism shifted to become more oxidative, and as a result, the fraction of consumed substrate converted to inhibitory metabolic by-products was reduced. Specific antibody productivity was found to be non-growth associated. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Cultivation ofLactobacillus crispatus KLB46 isolated from human vagina

Bacterial vaginosis can be treated by restoring the normal vaginal flora using lactobacilli.Lactobacillus crispatus KLB46 that was isolated from the human vagina has a strong antimicrobial activity and was grown in a batch and in a continuous fermentor. During batch cultivation, the maximum specific growth rate ofL. crispatus KLB 46 was 0.63 h⁻¹ and the highest viable cell count (1.9×10⁹ CFU/mL) was obtained at pH 5.5.L. crispatus KLB 46 did not grow well at either pH 3.5 or 7.5. During continuous cultivation, the highest viable cell count (1.53×10⁹ CFU/mL) was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.32 h⁻¹. However, the maximum productivity of viable cells was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.52 h⁻¹, and was 7.33×10¹¹ CFU L⁻¹ h⁻¹, that is approximately 5 times higher than that obtained from batch culture.     

Perfusion culture of baculovirus-infected BTI-Tn-5B1-4 insect cells: a method to restore cell-specific beta-trace glycoprotein productivity at high cell density

The impact of different cultivation-infection strategies on the productivity of baculovirus-infected BTI-Tn-5B1-4 (High Five) cells was investigated. Using beta-trace protein as the recombinant glycoprotein, the effects of multiplicity of infection (MOI) and time of infection (TOI) were studied on growth after infection as well as the degree of infection and recombinant protein productivity in batch culture. The highest productivities were found when infecting Tn5 cells at early exponential growth phase (EGP) (low cell density) using a high MOI. To increase the productive cell density of Tn5 cells after beta-trace-baculovirus infection, we performed studies infecting cells in the range of 1 to 5 x 10(6) cells/mL in fresh medium. Although the protein production was increased twofold, a strong negative cell density effect was still observed when maximal productive cell density exceeded 1 x 10(6) cells/mL. To verify whether the changing cell environment of the batch experiments was responsible for the decrease in protein productivity at increasing cell density at infection, several perfusion experiments were designed by infecting Tn5 cells at cell densities over 2 x 10(6) cells/mL under more steady-state conditions. The use of this experimental setup enabled successful infections at high cell densities with volumetric productivities of up to 1.2 g L(-1) day(-1) of beta-trace protein, which is very high for a glycoprotein expressed with the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS). The cell specific protein productivity observed after infections at higher cell densities in perfusion mode was the same as in batch experiments at low cell concentrations, which clearly demonstrates that the cell density effect could be completely overcome with perfusion cultivation.     

Increase of xylitol production rate by controlling redox potential in Candida parapsilosis

The effect of redox potential on xylitol production by Candida parapsilosis was investigated. The redox potential was found to be useful for monitoring the dissolved oxygen (DO) level in culture media, especially when the DO level was low. An increase in the agitation speed in a 5 L fermentor resulted in an increased culture redox potential as well as enhanced cell growth. Production of xylitol was maximized at a redox potential of 100 mV. As the initial cell concentration increased from 8 g/L to 30 g/L, the volumetric productivity of xylitol increased from 1.38 g/L. h to 4.62 g/L. h. A two-stage xylitol production strategy was devised, with stage 1 involving rapid production of cells under well-aerated conditions, and stage 2 involving cultivation with reduced aeration such that the culture redox potential was 100 mV. Using this technique, a final xylitol concentration of 180 g/L was obtained from a culture medium totally containing 254.5 g/L xylose in a 3,000 L pilot scale fermentor after 77 h fermentation. The volumetric productivity of xylitol during the fermentation was 2.34 g/L. h.     

Model simulation and analysis of perfusion culture of mammalian cells at high cell density.

Rate equations recently proposed by the authors for growth, death, consumption of nutrients, and formation of lactic acid, ammonium, and monoclonal antibody of hybridoma cells are used to simulate and analyze the behavior of perfusion cultures. Model simulations are in good agreement with experimental results from three different cell lines under varied perfusion and cell bleed rates except for cultures with very low viability. Analysis of simulations and experimental results indicates that in perfusion cultures with a complete cell separation cell bleed rate is a key parameter that strongly affects all the process variables, whereas the perfusion rate mainly affects the total and viable cell concentrations and the volumetric productivity of monoclonal antibody. Growth rate, viability, and specific perfusion rate of cells are only a function of the cell bleed rate. This also applies to cultures with partial cell separation in the permeate if the effective cell bleed rate is considered. It is suggested that the (effective) cell bleed rate of a perfusion culture should be carefully chosen and controlled separately from the perfusion rate. In general, a low cell bleed rate that warrants a reasonable cell viability appears to be desirable for the production of antibodies. Furthermore, model simulations indicate the existence of an optimum initial glucose concentration in the feed. For the cell lines considered, the initial glucose concentration used in normal cell culture media is obviously too high. The initial glutamine concentration can also be reduced to a certain extent without significantly impairing the growth and antibody production but considerably reducing the ammonia concentration. The mathematical model can be used to predict these optimum conditions and may also be used for process design.     

Two-stage depth filter perfusion culture for recombinant antibody production by recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cell

A rCHO cell line of DUKX origin 26*-320, producing recombinant antibody against the human platelet, was cultivated in a two-stage depth filter perfusion system (DFPS) for 20 days in order to attain high recombinant antibody concentration. The productivity of the first stage DFPS bioreactor reached 53 times that of the batch culture in a controlled stirred tank reactor and was showed 12.1 mg/L antibody concentration at a perfusion rate of 6.0 d⁻¹. Glucose concentration in the first DFPS was maintained at 1.5 g/L to avoid cell damage in the perfusion culture. A second stage DFPS system was attached to the first DFPS, which resulted in a low glucose concentration of 0.02 g/L and a high antibody concentration of 23.9 mg/L. The two-stage depth filter perfusion culture yielded 60% higher product concentration than the batch and 49-fold higher productivity of 69.3 mg/L/d in comparison with that (1.4 mg/L/d) in a batch system. Furthermore, antibody concentration of the second stage was 97% higher than that of the first stage, and the antibody productivities were comparable to that of the first stage. This two-stage DFPS system also showed potential for higher titer production of recombinant antibody and high volumetric productivity for long-term culture of bio-pharmaceutical substances.     

Production of monoclonal antibody using free-suspended and immobilized hybridoma cells: Effect of serum

The effect of serum on cell growth and monoclonal antibody (MAb) productivity was studied in a repeated fedbatch mode using both free-suspended and immobilized S3H5/gamma2bA2 hybridoma cells. In the suspension culture, serum influenced the cell growth rate but not the specific MAb productivity. The average specific growth rate of the suspension culture in medium containing 10% serum was approximately 0.99 +/- 0.12 day(-1) (+/-standard deviation), while that in medium containing 1% serum was approximately 0.73 +/- 0.12 day(-1). The specific MAb productivity was almost constant at 3.69 +/- 0.57 mug/10(6) cells/day irrespective of serum concentration reached a maximum at ca. 1.8 x 10(6) cells/mL of medium in 10% serum medium, and the cell concentration was gradually reduced to 1%. The specific MAb productivity of the immobilized cells was more than three times higher than that of the free-suspended cells. The amount of serum in the medium did not influence the specific MAb production rate of the immobilized cells. The maintenance of high cell concentration and the enhanced specific MAb productivity of the immobilized cell culture resulted in a higher volumetric MAb productivity. In addition, MAb yield in the immobilized cell culture with medium containing 1% serum was 2.2 mg/mL of serum, which was approximately three times higher than that in the suspension culture.     

Production of Acinetobacter radioresistens lipase with repeated batch culture in presence of nonwoven fabric.

Cultivation of Acinetobacter radioresistens on n-hexadecane for lipase production was investigated with repeated batch culture in the presence of a hydrophobic nonwoven fabric. Lipase production followed the growth-associated model, and the repeated batch culture could achieve both high enzyme yield and increased volumetric productivity. The fabric was shown to be able to disperse n-hexadecane, to adsorb the unused hydrocarbon, and to retain bioemulsifiers excreted from the cells; therefore, it enhanced cell growth and, in turn, lipase production. In the repeated batch culture in the absence of the fabric, lipase yield and volumetric productivity were found to be 21 U/mL and 875 U/L. h, respectively. However, if the fabric was equipped in the fermentor, lipase yield and volumetric productivity increased to 30 U/mL and 2500 U/L. h, respectively. The lipase production profile could be further improved by raising the amount of nitrogen source and, as a result, a lipase yield of 54 U/mL and a volumetric productivity of 2250 U/L. h were obtained. In this study we assess the beneficial effects of nonwoven fabric on lipase production.     

High density culture of hybridoma cells in a dual hollow fiber bioreactor

Summary Hybridoma cells were cultured for two months in the dual hollow fiber bioreactor (DHFBR) which had been successfully used for high cell density cultures of various microbial cells. In batch suspension culture the concentration of monoclonal antibody (Mab) against human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and the cell density of Alps 25-3 hybridoma cells were obtained in 30 μg/mL and 2.35×10⁶ cells/mL, respectively. The continuous culture with DHFBR produced Mab of 100–130 μg/mL for 30 days and the estimated cell density in the extracapillary space of DHFBR was 1.87×10⁸ cells/mL based on the antibody production rate. The productivity of Mab was 205 mg/day per litre of the total reactor volume while that of the batch suspension culture was only 10 mg/L day.     

Enhanced productivity of Chaetoceros calcitrans in airlift photobioreactors

The various modes of cultivation of Chaetoceros calcitrans in airlift photobioreactors (ALPBRs) were examined. The batch system illustrated that the airlift configuration was superior to the bubble column as the airlift supported the circulation of the cell within the system, leading to a better light utilization. The cultivations in both semi-continuous and continuous systems resulted in a high cell productivity, although the steady state cell concentrations in both systems were lower than that obtained from the batch system. The behavior of the large-scale airlift system was not significantly different from the conventional bubble column where the diatom could only be produced at low cell density. Despite this, among all of the systems investigated in this work, the large-scale system gave the highest productivity. The main limiting factor for the large-scale airlift culture was the availability of light. Based on economical analysis, the continuous cultivation in the 2.8L ALPBR with a medium feed rate of 3 mL min(-1) was most attractive where the operation cost could be maintained at a minimum of approx. 7.95 x 10(-4)THBL(-1)h(-1). However, this continuous small-scale system still suffered from relatively low cell productivity (8.10 x 10(4)cellss(-1)).     

Suspension culture process of MethA tumor cell for the production of heat-shock protein glycoprotein 96: process optimization in spinner flasks

Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) act like "chaperones", making sure that the cell's proteins are in the right shape and in the right place at the right time. Heat-shock protein glycoprotein 96 (gp96) is a member of the HSP90 protein family, which chaperones a number of molecules in protein folding and transportation. Heat-shock protein gp96 serves as a natural adjuvant for chaperoning antigenic peptides into the immune surveillance pathways. Currently, heat-shock protein gp96 was only isolated from murine and human tissues and cell lines. An animal cell suspension culture process for the production of heat-shock protein gp96 by MethA tumor cell was developed for the first time in spinner flasks. Effects of culture medium and condition were studied to enhance the MethA tumor cell density and the production and productivity of heat-shock protein gp96. Initial glucose concentration had a significant effect on the heat-shock protein gp96 accumulation, and an initial glucose level of 7.0 g/L was desirable for MethA tumor cell growth and heat-shock protein gp96 production and productivity. Cultures at an initial glutamine concentration of 3 and 6 mM were nutritionally limited by glutamine. At an initial glutamine concentration of 6 mM, the maximal viable cell density of 19.90 x 10(5) cells/mL and the maximal heat-shock protein gp96 production of 4.95 mg/L was obtained. The initial concentration of RPMI 1640 and serum greatly affected the MethA tumor cell culture process. Specifically cultures with lower initial concentration of RPMI 1640 resulted in lower viable cell density and lower heat-shock protein gp96 production. At an initial serum concentration of 8%, the maximal viable cell density of 19.18 x 10(5) cells/mL and the maximal heat-shock protein gp96 production of 5.67 mg/L was obtained. The spin rate significantly affected the cell culture process in spinner flasks, and a spin rate of 150 rpm was desirable for MethA tumor cell growth and heat-shock protein gp96 production and productivity. Not only the cell density but also the production and productivity of heat-shock protein gp96 attained in this work are the highest reported in the culture of MethA tumor cell. This work offers an effective approach for producing heat-shock protein glycoprotein 96 from the cell culture process. The fundamental information obtained in this study may be useful for the efficient production of heat-shock protein by animal cell suspension culture on a large scale.     

Air-bubbling, hollow-fiber reactor with cell bleeding and cross-flow filtration

Continuous asymmetric reduction of dyhydrooxoisophorone (DOIP) to 4-hydroxy-2,2,6-trimethylcyclo-hexanone (4-HTMCH) was achieved by a thermophilic bacterium Bacillus stearothermophilus NK86-0151. Three reactors were used: an air-bubbling hollow-fiber reactor with cell bleeding and cross-flow filtration, an air-lift reactor, and a CSTR with PAA immobilized cells. The maximum cell concentration of 11.1 g dry wt L(-1) was obtained in an air-bubbling hollow-fiber reactor, while in the other reactors the cell densities were between 3.5 and 4.1 g dry wt L(-1) The optimum bleed ratio was 0.1 at the dilution rate 0.3 h(-1) in the hollow-fiber reactor. The highest viable cell concentration was maintained in the dilution range of 0.4-0.7 h(-1) by a combination of proper cell bleeding and cross-flow filtration. The maximum volumetric productivity of 4-HTMCH reached 826 mg L(-1) h(-1) at the dilution rate 0.54 h(-1). This value was 4 and 2 times higher than those in the air-lift reactor and CSTR, respectively. The increasing viable cell concentration increased the volumetric productivity of 4-HTMCH. A cell free product solution was continuously obtained by cross-flow filtration.     

Continuous stable production of von Willebrand Factor monoclonal antibody in spin filter bioreactor with bleeding technology

The characteristics of two different modes of perfusion culture, intermittent and continuous bleedings, were investigated by culturing the hybridoma cells producing von Willebrand Factor (vWF) monoclonal antibody (McAb) in a 15 L bioreactor without clogging the filter. Both culture methods exhibited similar profiles of cell density and metabolite concentrations during the culture period at the cell concentration of around 1×10⁷ cells/mL. When the perfusion rate was increased, the intermittent bleeding culture showed problems of ammonia accumulation and decrease of cell viability. The continuous bleeding culture exhibited higher physiological activity than that of the intermittent bleeding culture in terms of nutrient consumption and metabolite production kinetics. But the analysis of specific oxygen consumption rate showed that the specific oxygen consumption rate of intermittent bleeding culture was similar to that of exponential growth phase. The continuous bleeding culture showed higher specific vWF McAb productivity and cumulative production than those of the intermittent bleeding culture. Finally we proved the possibility of long-term operation of continuous bleeding culture and produced approximately 40 g of vWF McAb in a 15 L bioreactor after one-month operation.