Tetrahydrofolate increases suspension growth of dihydrofolate reductase‐deficient chinese hamster ovary DG44 cells in chemically defined media

Adaptation of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)‐deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) DG44 cells to chemically defined suspension culture conditions is a time‐consuming and labor‐intensive process because nonadapted DHFR‐deficient CHO DG44 cells normally show poor growth in chemically defined medium (CDM). We examined the effects of folate derivatives, ribonucleotides, and nucleobases on the growth of suspension‐adapted DHFR‐deficient CHO DG44 cells in CDM. Among the tested additives, tetrahydrofolate (THF) was identified as an effective component for increasing cell growth. THF supplementation in the range of 0.2–359 μM enhanced cell growth in in‐house CDM. Addition of 3.6 μM THF to in‐house CDM resulted in a more than 2.5‐fold increase in maximum viable cell density. Moreover, supplementation of six different commercial CDMs with 3.6 μM THF yielded up to 2.9‐fold enhancement of maximum viable cell density. An anchorage‐ and serum‐dependent DHFR‐deficient CHO DG44 cell line was adapted within two consecutive passages to suspension growth in in‐house CDM supplemented with 3.6 μM THF. These data indicate that supplementation of chemically defined cell culture media with greater than 0.2 μM THF can help achieve a high density of suspension‐adapted DHFR‐deficient CHO DG44 cells and may facilitate rapid adaptation of nonadapted DHFR‐deficient CHO DG44 cells to suspension culture. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1539–1546, 2016