Teresa Galhoz
Master Student
Background
Graduation in Biology, FCUL, 2009
Research Activities
There has been a rapid increase in the number and demand for approved biopharmaceuticals produced from animal cell culture processes over the last few years. In part, this has been due to the efficacy of several monoclonal antibodies that are required at large doses for therapeutic use. There have also been several identifiable advances in animal cell technology that has enabled efficient biomanufacture of these products. Many of these processes are now being designed in serum-free and animal-component-free media to ensure that products are not contaminated with the adventitious agents found in bovine serum. The goal of of my thesis is to optimise the production of monoclonal antibodies against the human cluster of differentiation 34 (anti-CD 34) using hybridoma cell culture. The influence of the presence of serum and of the initial cell density on cell specific growth rate, viability and specific MAb production rate will be studied. The possibility of adapting the cells to grow in the absence of FBS will be evaluated. Produced MAbs will be purified by affinity chromatography using a protein G matrix.