Early registration deadline approaching: 6th Annual Cell Culture Technology Event

Cell culture has matured to become the pivotal technology in biopharmaceutical research, development and production, and its use in this and other areas continues to expand rapidly. In vitro models are replacing animals in many tests and assays; its enormous potential in the fields of stem cell and regenerative medicine has hardly started to be realized; and its utility in research grows ever faster.

This conference will examine some of the latest applications of cell culture technology, some that are still “over the horizon”, and some of the problems that must be solved before it can reach its full potential.

This event has CPD accreditation

Meeting chair: Dr John Davis, Chairman of the UK Branch of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology

Talks include

Assessment of influenza pathogenicity using respiratory ex-vivo organ culture
Bethany Nash, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Surrey, UK
Pathogenicity studies are historically conducted in whole body systems requiring many animals for statistical significance. We have adapted ex vivo pig organ culture methods to investigate A(H1N1)pdm09 and Eurasian lineage H5N1 influenza virus pathogenesis in both pig and ferret systems as models of host and human influenza infection. This has enabled the number of animals used to be substantially reduced. Using real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry we have investigated viral infection in both upper and lower respiratory tract infections to inform influenza pandemic preparedness.

To be confirmed
To be confirmed, Sigma Aldrich, UK

Alternative cell sources for ocular surface stem cell therapy
Dr Anna O’Callaghan, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, UK
Limbal epithelial stem cells are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the corneal surface. Injury and disease can result in a deficiency of these stem cells affecting vision in these patients. Cultured limbal epithelial stem cell therapy can be used to repair the corneal surface. It is not always possible to use the patient’s own corneal cells for this, and the use of alternative sources of stem cells from the patient such as from the mouth (oral mucosa) will be discussed.

Advances in throughput screening for cell culture
To be confirmed, Applikon Biotechnology UK

Talk to be confirmed
Sartorius Stedim UK Ltd.

Recent advances in production of challenging proteins, using a proprietary Drosophila S2 cell-based platform: robustness, scalability, cGMP production
Dr Charlotte Dyring, CEO of Expres2ion Biotechnologies, Denmark
Drosophila S2 cells represent a efficient cGMP compatible eukaryotic platform for recombinant protein expression. Expres2ion has developed a proprietary and complete licensable production platform, to serve unmet needs in vaccine and research applications. The platform and relevant applications will be described.

Industrially Generated Red Blood Cells for Transfusion
Dr Nik Willoughby, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, Heriot-Watt University
Blood Transfusion has become a mainstay of modern medical practice. However problems persist both nationally and internationally in maintaining supply, managing the risk of transmission of infectious agents and ensuring immune compatibility between donor and recipient. Human embryonic stem cells (hES cells) offer a potentially limitless source from which to generate red blood cells (RBCs) for use in clinical transfusion. The work presented here will describe some of the biological and engineering challenges associated with scale-up of the cell culture and purification operations used to produce the large numbers of RBCs necessary for potential clinical supply.
Although this presentation describes development of a specific process, it is likely that the greatest scale-up hurdles will be specific to cellular therapies as a whole; therefore it is timely to consider process development now in order to prevent a major bottleneck occurring when allogeneic cellular therapies reach clinical trials.

To be confirmed
Mr Craig Malcolm, Promega UK, UK

About the Chair
John Davis is Visiting Lecturer in Biotechnology at the University of Hertfordshire, and Chairman of the UK Branch of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT-UK). After a degree in Biochemistry at Sheffield, he moved in 1974 to Renato Dulbecco’s laboratory where he was initiated into the art of cell culture. Following PhD studies in Leicester, he moved to Switzerland, working with both Norman Iscove and Georges Köhler, the latter starting him on his many years of research into the use of monoclonal antibodies, particularly in therapy. After a further postdoctoral position, at the University of Cambridge where he worked on the early stages of the development of Campath (Alemtuzumab; now also known as Lemtrada), he made the transition to industry, working first for PA Technology and then (for nearly 20 years) for the Bio-Products Laboratory. In 2007 he made the transition back to academia. In addition to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, he now runs open courses on Basic Cell Culture and Intermediate/Advanced Cell Culture. He has served on both the UKCCCR subcommittee on the Use of Cell Lines in Cancer Research, and the EC task force on Good Cell Culture Practice. In addition he has edited a number of books on cell culture, including Basic Cell Culture: A Practical Approach, and (with Glyn Stacey) Medicines from Animal Cell Culture. His most recent book is Animal Cell Culture: Essential Methods, which was published in March 2011 by Wiley-Blackwell
About the speakers

After graduating from University College London in 1996 with a BEng in Biochemical Engineering, Nik Willoughby carried out a PhD within the Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering at UCL. Entitled “An Engineering Evaluation of Expanded Bed Adsorption for the Recovery of a Typical Bioproduct”, the study looked at hydrodynamic and kinetic influences on the performance of this novel unit operation. After completing his PhD he worked for two years in purification development at Metris Therapeutics, before returning to UCL to help establish the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre for Bioprocessing. This multi-disciplinary research group was funded by the EPSRC to facilitate rapid development and scale-up of bioprocesses. Nik moved to Heriot-Watt in April 2006, as part of the ScotChem initiative. His research group at Heriot-Watt is currently focused on scalable culture, purification and separation of stem cell-based cellular therapies. Under the BBSRC BRIC initiative they are investigating scalable separation of human adult and embryonic stem cells and have just started a major SFC-funded project looking at developing a manufactured hESC-derived replacement for donated blood. In addition Nik is heavily involved in sustainability strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from chemical and biological plant using novel techniques based around cyanobacterial photosynthetic fixation. In connection with this he is about to commence a Horizon-funded project developing techniques to produce added-value protein and bioenergy products within the brewing and distilling industry.

Anna O’Callaghan is part of the Cells for Sight group headed by Professor Julie Daniels at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. Anna has been a Post-Doc there since 2009. Anna obtained her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of East Anglia, a Masters degree in Biochemical Engineering at University College London, and an Engineering Doctorate at University College London on limbal epithelial stem cells.

Bethany Nash has been a Senior Research Assistant within the Mammalian and Avian Influenza group at the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), Weybridge for 3 and a half years. Currently her work centres around inter-species transmission dynamics of influenza [e.g. H5N1 and A(H1N1)pdm09] and studying emerging influenza threats for pandemic preparedness planning. Previous to the AHVLA, Bethany spent time at the Centre of Infectious Diseases, Health Protection Agency, London researching correlates of immune response in human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.

Charlotte Dyring has an extensive track record in protein expression in eukaryotic systems, mastering a wide array of expression systems, tools and techniques and substantial practical experience with upstream process development according to industry standards, including process transfer to cGMP. Dr Dyring is a recognized world leading expert of the Drosophila S2 expression technology and her expertise was critical in the development of the technology to the current level of sophistication and robustness

Nik Willoughby obtained his degree and PhD from UCL before spending time in industry with Metris Therapeutics and Lonza Biologics. In 2002, Nik returned to UCL to help establish the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre for Bioprocessing. Nik moved to Heriot-Watt in 2006 to establish a cellular bioprocessing research group, with the group’s focus divided between cellular therapies and sustainability research. Currently the cellular therapies team are focused on scalable culture, purification and separation of stem cell-based cellular therapies.

Keywords: cell, transfection, lasers, microscopy, Autophagy, Puncta, p62, Flux, cell, transfection, lasers, microscopy, dry powder, mammalian cell culture media, batch to batch consistency, human embryonic stem cells, clinical grade, cGMP, bioreactor, process development, large scale, upstream processes, recombinant protein production; cold-shock; CHO cells; cell engineering, cornea, eye, limbal epithelial stem cells, cell therapy,Influenza, organ culture, pigs, ferrets, respiratory tract,Soluble proteins, vaccines, cGMP,Drosophila , Red blood cells, human embryonic stem cells, scale-up

Event Web site: www.regonline.co.uk/cellculture2013