APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CULTURING AND PRESERVING TISSUE CONSTRUCTS
A disclosure is made of various apparatus and methods for culturing and preserving cells and tissue in ways that minimize contamination potential, direct cells to reside in desired areas, allow uniform cell distribution during seeding, provide optimal growth conditions by controlling the amount of medium residing in proximity of cells, allow desired compounds and molecules to reside in proximity of the cells, allow co-culture, provide for efficient scale up, allow a desired shape of tissue to be created while retaining a closed system, and allow cryopreservation and reconstitution of cell and tissue while retaining a closed system. The apparatus and methods can be combined to prevent the need to remove the tissue from the enclosure at any point during the sterilization, seeding, culturing, cryopreservation, shipping, or restoration process. Also disclosed is an apparatus and method of pipette interface with a container in a manner that blocks contaminants from entering the container.
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 11/709,933 filed Feb. 22, 2007 which claims the benefit of application Ser. No. 10/460,850 filed Jun. 13, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,820, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/388,567 filed Jun. 13, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the culture, handling, preservation, storing, reconstitution, and shipping of cells and tissue. Specifically, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods for culturing and preserving cells and tissue in an enclosure without the need to remove them from the enclosure at any point during the sterilization, seeding, culturing, cryopreservation, shipping, or restoration process. Also disclosed is an apparatus and method of pipette interface with a container in a manner that blocks contaminants from entering the container.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Tissue constructs hold promise to provide societal health care benefits. A wide variety of potentially beneficial applications are emerging, some with the potential to repair defects or abnormal tissues in the body, including those related to wound care, cardiovascular disease, and orthopedic care. These applications are anticipated to result in a tremendous amount of tissue constructs being produced annually to meet the needs of society. The tissue culture device used for tissue construct culture plays a critical role in the cost of production, which in turn impacts overall health care costs to society.
The petri dish has commonly been used to culture tissue constructs for research and production applications because of its simplicity. Unfortunately, the petri dish does not provide optimal culture conditions or allow efficient production. The petri dish is subject to contamination, automated handling is difficult, tissue constructs residing in a petri dish are prone to gradient exposure, tissue constructs must be physically handled during the manufacturing process, controlling the final shape of the tissue construct is difficult, and the petri dish is not suited to efficient process control and quality control.
Another problem of the petri dish is related to inoculation of cell attachment matrices that facilitate three-dimensional culture such as collagen. Unless the tissue construct is to be the same size and shape as the petri dish, cells generally must be placed directly onto the cell attachment matrix, and not deposited gravitationally as is the case with most cell culture devices, in order to prevent cells from coming to reside on the petri dish itself. Cells residing on surfaces other than the cell attachment matrix can negatively impact the culture. Thus, the inoculation procedure does not have tight process control since cells must be directed, usually manually, to specific locations on the cell attachment matrix. This problem is magnified as production is scaled up to produce more and more tissue constructs.
An example of a typical tissue construct culture process in a petri dish, the culture of skin, illustrates the problems. One method of culturing living skin in described by Eisenburg in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,859. A cross-linked collagen sponge is created in a manner that renders it porous on one side and having a non-porous skin on the other side. Fibroblast cells are inoculated by “injecting” them onto the porous side of the collagen sponge, which resides in a petri dish. Culture medium is placed in the petri dish, which is incubated for 10 days while the fibroblasts proliferate. The culture medium is replaced every second day, requiring the device to be exposed to potential contamination on 5 separate occasions. It may be helpful to condition the medium by exposing it to keratinocytes for a 2-day period before use. Subsequently, the collagen sponge is turned over and the non-porous side is inoculated with keratinocytes by dispensing drops of inoculum onto various portions of the sponge. The sponge is then incubated with culture medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum for 10 days, again requiring the lid of the petri dish to be removed every other day for feeding.
In this example, the petri dish is subject to contamination due to the repeated handling needed for feeding. The delivery of cells also creates contamination risk. There is no way of controlling the amount of medium that resides on each side of the sponge because that is dictated by the density of the sponge relative to the density of the medium. When the sponge is denser that the medium, it sinks to the bottom of the petri dish. When the sponge is facing fibroblast side up, fibroblasts are exposed to the majority of medium in the petri dish. After keratinocyte inoculation, fibroblasts face the bottom of the petri dish exposing cells located towards the center of the sponge to different concentrations of medium substrates than those located towards the perimeter of the sponge, since the medium will form gradients towards the center of the sponge due to the metabolic activity of the cells. The proliferation of the cells is a function of how evenly distributed the cells are on the sponge. Therefore, outgrowth varies between each living skin construct produced in proportion to the variance in the inoculation process. If humans are depositing the cells by way of pipetting or syringe deliver, skin constructs will exhibit a high degree of variance in the initial distribution of cells, even when only one operator inoculates multiple sponges. More variance can be expected with multiple operators. Robotic dispensation reduces the variance, but increases complexity and does not diminish the exposure to contamination.
The petri dish is very poorly suited to protecting the collagen sponge or helping it retain its desired shape. The collagen sponge must be physically contacted to lift it and turn it over when the opposite side of the sponge is inoculated with keratinocytes. This risks damage to the sponge and fibroblasts and again exposes the sponge to contamination. When the culture proliferates, the sponge can contract, as collagen is known to do when cells grow upon and in it. Thus, the shape of the sponge can change and there is no control over the final shape, a particularly undesirable characteristic when creating skin constructs that may be laid side by side on a patient. This leads to an additional handling process to cut the sponge into a desired shape with all the risks of sponge damage and contamination present.
Long-term storage of the living skin cannot be done in the petri dish because the materials are not compatible with freezing. Therefore, the lid of the petri dish must again be removed and the sponge, now in a weakened condition after having been exposed to culture medium for 20 days, must be physically picked up and placed in a cryopreservation bag. Subsequently, the bag must be sealed and filled with cryopreservatives, the process again risking damage to the cells and sponge, and risking contamination. This also makes it difficult to perform quality control in a manner that is inexpensive. Even if non-destructive process control limits were met during the culture process, such as glucose and oxygen consumption targets, and those process control evaluations are not capable of detecting problems that occur once the culture is complete and the sponge is transferred to a cryopreservation bag. If damage or contamination occurs at that point, it will be expensive to detect because the skin will have to be quarantined or a high amount of destructive testing will be needed to verify the transfer procedures used for any given batch of skin were acceptable. Another potential problem in process control occurs because the amount of cryoprotectant on each side of the sponge is a function of where the sponge comes to reside in the cryopreservation bag, over which the operator has little control.
Reconstituting the skin after cryopreservation can be done by removing the skin from the cryoprotectant bag, placing it in a petri dish, and adding the appropriate medium to reconstitute it, thereby causing handling and contamination exposure. Subsequently, the sponge needs to be removed from the petri dish for use, or if not reconstituted at the site of use (i.e. the hospital), packaged in another bag for shipping. This example demonstrates that it is very difficult to establish tight process control for making tissue construct products using the petri dish and a new apparatus and method is needed.
Ideally, the apparatus and method would allow protocols that are established in the research stages to be relevant in the production stage. The simplicity of the petri dish is an advantage for those performing research scale cultures. Because the petri dish is compatible with typical equipment such as pipettes and incubators, and does not require perfusion, those options should remain available as the process is scaled up. In that manner, data generated at the research level would remain relevant as scale up occurs, and would not become irrelevant if the process were changed completely. Thus, once in the production scale, the device should be capable of operating with continuous perfusion or batch feeding. Gradient formation in the culture medium should be minimized in both batch fed and perfusion modes of operation. The improved device should have an inoculation process that is repeatable, such as the gravitational method commonly used to seed tissue culture flasks. Cells should come to reside upon the cell attachment matrix as opposed to other surfaces of the device. It should be also possible to control the final shape of the tissue construct in a manner that does not expose the construct to damage or contamination. Also, it is critical that the alternative does not repeatedly expose the tissue to contamination during the inoculation, feeding, cryopreservation, reconstitution, storage, or shipping stages. Since the possibility of exposing certain types of cells to medium containing conditioning agents may produce better tissue, as in the skin culture example of medium is conditioned by exposure to keratinocytes, the alternative device should contemplate attributes that may cost reduce this process. For example, the use of a membrane to place desired compounds and molecules in proximity of specific areas of the tissue may reduce cost by limiting the amount of those compounds and molecules needed in the device.
Attempts to address the limitations of the petri dish have been undertaken, but each attempt only addresses a portion of the problems and even when combined they do not lead to an alternative that has most of the desired attributes.
Bell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,102, describes a container housing a tissue for the purpose of assessing the interaction of the tissue and at least one agent. Although not directed towards overcoming the problems of tissue culture in petri dishes, the art is useful as it provides a method of controlling the amount of fluid residing above and below the tissue. This is advantageous relative to the inability of the petri dish to maintain predetermined volumes of culture medium above and below the construct. Additionally, Bell teaches a method for controlling the shrinkage of the tissue by either constraining the perimeter or allowing it to attach to a membrane for constraint. A method of constraining the controlling the shape of the tissue construct by constructing the collagen matrix in a frame of stainless steel mesh is also disclosed by Bell in U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,096.
Bell provides concepts that can be used to address some of the problems of tissue culture in petri dish. However, by applying them to the skin culture process described above, it can be seen that many problems remain. Bell does not make it clear how to minimize contamination potential throughout the inoculation, feeding, cryopreservation, reconstitution, and preservation stages. Proper oxygenation of the tissue, when cells occupy all sides of the cell attachment matrix, can only be achieved by perfusing the device with oxygenated medium. This is too complex and costly for most research environments. Unless the lower compartment is perfused with oxygen-saturated medium, cells in long-term culture will quickly deplete medium in the lower compartment of oxygen. Because of the low solubility of oxygen in medium relative to the solubility of needed substrates in medium like glucose, perfusion of the lower compartment to provide oxygen requires a much higher flow rate than if perfusion just provided substrates. That increases system complexity and cost and subjects cells to a higher rate of shear than may be desirable. If perfusion to bring oxygen is not provided once the oxygen in the lower compartment is depleted, the lower portion of the tissue can only obtain oxygen from the medium in the upper compartment. Since the cells on the upper portion of the tissue have first access to oxygen in the medium, the cells on the lower portion of the tissue are subject to oxygen concentrations that are always reduced relative to the cells on the upper portion of the tissue. Thus, without high flow perfusion, the device is no better than the petri dish for oxygenating cells at the bottom of the tissue.
In applications where the tissue is to be applied to a patient, such as living skin, Bell does not provide for a way of preparing the tissue without risking damage or increasing contamination risk. If the device were to be opened at a hospital for example, the tissue would have to be cut out of the frame constraining it. Therefore, since techniques of cutting the tissue are likely to vary from hospital to hospital, little process control is available. A controlled process would remove the tissue in the same manner each time and lead to superior and consistent overall tissue quality.
Kemp et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,656 describes controlling shrinkage by way of casting a collagen lattice on an acellular, hydrated collagen gel in contact with a permeable member. For some applications, this minimizes the need to constrain the collagen about the perimeter. The use of an absorbent member in the second, lower compartment in order to provide a consistent and level physical support for the collagen matrix is disclosed. Advantages are described whereby the absorbent member may create diffusional barriers to help retain desirable cell conditioning factors in proximity of the tissue. However, that same characteristic can limit transport of desired molecules and compounds to the tissue from the surrounding medium. Both the permeable membrane and the absorbent member can act to prevent inoculation of two sides of a cell attachment matrix because those members block cells from reaching the cell attachment matrix. Importantly, this is not a closed system and the risk of contamination is not diminished relative to the petri dish, and may actually be increased as two open compartments need to be manipulated. Furthermore, oxygenation of the culture is limited to diffusion of oxygen from the upper liquid/gas interface. The device does not lend itself to process control during scale up since it is not possible to measure the medium for indicators such as oxygen and glucose without taking individual samples from each device.
Peterson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,042, discloses an apparatus and method for seeding and culturing three-dimensional tissue constructs and creating a dynamic environment, placing mammalian cells under simulated in vivo conditions resulting in tissue that is more likely to display the biochemical, physical, and structural properties of native tissues than tissue cultured in a petri dish. The apparatus and methods utilize a variety of methods for physically moving the tissue. Magnetic axial loading and mechanical axial loading of the tissue by way of a piston, bellows, and flexible diaphragm, and pressure cycling the environment are described. The system is overly complex for tissue that is functionally adequate without being physically placed in tension. Thus, at the research scale, the complexity and cost are prohibitive and unnecessary for many applications. Even if the tissue loading elements are eliminated from the treatment chamber, the system is still too complex for research applications as it relies on pumps and other perfusion support mechanisms. It does not make it clear how to inoculate the tissue support matrix in a manner that achieves repeatable, uniform seeding of the type needed for applications like the production of living skin. It also does not allow removal of the construct from its constraints without risking contamination of the treatment chamber and does not indicate how to prevent damage to the construct during the removal process.
The focus is on ligaments, in which an improvement relative to the petri dish is attained due to the capability of physically stressing the ligament by altering it dimensionally. In this manner the ligament is cultured under conditions more representative of those found in vivo. However, whether or not the apparatus and method are applied to ligaments or some other tissue such as skin, many limitations of the petri dish remain. There is no ability to vary the cross-sectional area of fluid normal to the plane of the construct, remove trapped gas in a non-perfused system, alter the diffusional distance for gaseous communication with the tissue during culture, adequately oxygenate and feed the culture in the non-perfused state, direct cells to the appropriate location during seeding, make use of centrifugal force as a method of seeding a cell attachment matrix, control the final shape of tissue construct while retaining a closed system, allowing control of predetermined molecules and compounds present in proximity of the tissue. Furthermore, the apparatus and method does not contemplate the need to protect the bioreactor housing from damage during cryopreservation if the housing is comprised of a gas permeable material, capable of providing passive or non-passive gas transfer to and from the culture, but not entirely compatible with cryopreservation conditions. Also, the use of standard laboratory pipettes for liquid handling in a manner that minimizes contamination is not contemplated. The apparatus and methods are also complex and eliminate the most desirable attribute of the petri dish, which is its simplicity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides methods and apparatus for inoculating, culturing, cryopreserving, storing, reconstituting, and shipping tissue constructs in a simple manner that minimizes contamination risk.
One inventive aspect of the present invention involves the use of a flexible tissue construct bioreactor housing that can change shape without allowing contamination. The ability for the housing to change shape allows a variety of benefits to accrue. Changing the shape of the housing can be done to locate inoculum entirely over the target seeding area during gravitational seeding and allow the optimal amount of inoculum to reside above the cell attachment matrix during gravitational seeding and subsequently the housing volume can again change to accommodate the optimal medium volume residing in proximity of the tissue, alter the cross-sectional area so that the velocity of fluid in proximity of the tissue can be changed without altering the overall perfusion rate, relieve pressure increases that may result as medium loses its gas carrying capacity during a temperature increase when batch feeding is utilized, remove gas that comes to reside in the bioreactor without having to displace it with medium and potentially dilute important cell produced conditioning agents, change the volume of space surrounding the tissue in order to accommodate the addition of the optimal amount of cyropreservative, change in volume of space surrounding the tissue in order to accommodate the addition of the optimal amount of reconstitution medium, drive an internal die through the construct to cut it to a desired shape, or allow microscopic viewing of the tissue.
When the housing of the bioreactor is gas permeable in addition to being flexible, moving the gas permeable housing closer or farther away from the tissue construct will allow oxygen tension to be altered at the cell location. In this manner, altering oxygen tension can be done independent of the ambient surroundings, substantially simplification relative to other tissue construct devices. Another unique advantage can be obtained if the moisture vapor transmission rate differs across separate surfaces of the bioreactor housing. This allows more resolution in controlling the osmotic conditions in proximity of the cells due to evaporation. This is particularly beneficial in a batch fed process, where there is no replacement of medium for fixed intervals of time.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to inoculate and culture cells on a cell attachment matrix residing within a flexible housing in a batch fed manner that retains the simplicity of the petri dish, but is superior in terms of minimizing contamination risk, improving inoculation distribution, reducing gradient formation, and controlling oxygen tension. The tissue construct resides upon a support matrix that places it in a position that allows a desired volume of fluid to reside around it. Also, resolution in oxygen tension control is available by moving the gas permeable walls closer or farther away from the cells while retaining the same amount of medium in the bioreactor, thereby leaving the concentration of important cell secreted conditioning factors unaltered.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to compartmentalize the bioreactor. This has benefits including allowing each side of a tissue or cell attachment matrix to be subjected to a different medium conditions, allowing inoculation of different cell types onto different surfaces, and exposing different areas of the cell attachment matrix to different growth conditions such as different oxygen tension or different glucose concentrations.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to allow cells of a different type be co-cultured, physically separated by a semi-permeable membrane, in a manner that includes the attributes of improved oxygen tension control, better seeding distribution during inoculation, and reduced gradient formation.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to cut the tissue to a desired shape without need to expose the tissue to contamination by opening the bioreactor.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to inoculate one or two sides of a cell attachment matrix by intermittently positioning the bioreactor in a vertical and horizontal position in order to allow a well mixed inoculum to deposit cells in a well distributed pattern upon a cell attachment matrix, and create optimal culture conditions by allowing the tissue to receive medium in perfusion or batch modes.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to seed cells into a cell attachment matrix by the use of centrifugal force.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to access a septum by way of a needle while protecting both the needle and septum from exposure to contamination before, during, and after needle penetration.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to access a flexible container with a pipette in a manner that prevents contaminants from entering the container while the pipette is engaged in the access port of the container.
It is yet another inventive aspect of the present invention to enclose the tissue construct bioreactor in a package that prevents damage to the tissue during cryopreservation even if the housing to the bioreactor is damaged during the process.
In
- 10 tissue construct bioreactor
- 20 cell attachment matrix
- 25 lower cell attachment matrix
- 30 tissue construct bioreactor walls
- 35 wall seal
- 37 clamp
- 38 constraining clamp
- 40 access port
- 42 thin walled access opening
- 43 pipette tip
- 44 pipette
- 45 void volume
- 46 fluid access channel
- 47 pipette stop
- 48 threads
- 49 flexible tube
- 51 cap
- 60 gas
- 70 cell culture medium
- 80 septum
- 90 syringe needle
- 100 syringe
- 110 syringe flow direction
- 120 wall direction arrow
- 130 cryopreservation enclosure
- 140 gas compartment
- 145 gas compartment access port
- 150 sterile gas filter
- 160 gas compartment spacer
- 170 cutting die
- 180 matrix holder
- 190 legs
- 200 frame
- 202 membrane
- 220 inoculum
- 230 compartmentalized tissue construct bioreactor
- 240 first compartment
- 250 second compartment
- 260 bioreactor lid
- 270 bioreactor body
- 280 lid seal
- 290 moveable latch
- 310 vertical walls
- 330 outer housing
- 340 boss
- 350 pocket
- 360 spacer projections
- 370 grid
- 380 access needles
- 390 access needle protection septum
The following embodiments of the present invention will be described in the context of an apparatus and method for seeding a cell attachment matrix with tissue, culturing, preserving, reconstituting, altering the geometric shape of, shipping, and removing the tissue. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the apparatus and methods are useful for broader applications including those in which tissue is present without a cell attachment matrix.
If at least a portion of one tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 is a comprised of a liquid impermeable, gas permeable material, gas can diffuse into and out of tissue construct bioreactor 10. That allows cells to obtain gas exchange independent of the rate of cell culture medium delivery. In many perfused bioreactors, medium is oxygenated prior to delivery to the bioreactor. The low solubility of oxygen in medium, when compared to substrates such as glucose and essential amino acids, requires perfusion rates be dictated by the oxygen demand of the tissue construct. However, by making a portion of the bioreactor housing gas permeable, perfusion of oxygenated medium into the bioreactor to support cellular demand can be avoided. When oxygen is delivered by way of the gas permeable bioreactor housing, several factors affect the delivery rate of oxygen to the cell mass. They include the surface area of gas permeable material available for transfer, permeability of the gas permeable material, the degree of parallelism between cell attachment matrix 20 and gas permeable tissue construct wall 30, the distance between gas permeable tissue construct wall 30 and the cell mass, and if gas and liquid resides in tissue construct bioreactor 10, the distance between the cell mass and the gas/liquid interface.
The amount of cell culture medium residing in gas permeable tissue construct bioreactor 10 has an effect on bioreactor geometry and gas exchange. If cell culture medium is delivered in a batch fed mode, the geometry of tissue construct bioreactor 10 should take into consideration the need to provide the tissue construct with enough cell culture medium to sustain the culture for a predetermined period of time. When feeding is done manually, typically at least 24 hours between cell culture medium exchanges is most convenient for operators. Additional cell culture medium capacity will make feeding less frequent, but should be balanced against any negative impact on gas exchange if the distance between the cell mass and the oxygen source increases as a result of increasing cell culture medium capacity.
Since petri dish culture of tissue constructs is common, the petri dish geometry provides a good reference for batch fed tissue construct bioreactor design. Typically, in petri dish culture, the tissue construct not the same dimension as the petri dish and therefore not all of the cell culture medium resides directly above the tissue construct. Thus, the distance from the tissue construct to the gas/liquid interface is less than it would be if all of the liquid resided directly above the tissue construct. As a result, when the volume of medium is fixed, oxygen is required to travel farther and surface area for gas transfer is reduced as the configuration is altered to allow more medium to reside directly above the tissue construct. For example, if a 6 cm×6 cm cell attachment matrix resides in a 145 mm diameter petri dish (165 cm2 surface area) containing 50 ml of cell culture medium, the height of liquid that resides in the petri dish is approximately 3.0 mm. However, if the bottom of the petri dish were the same size and shape as the cell attachment matrix, thereby allowing liquid to reside entirely over the cell attachment matrix, the height of liquid above the cell attachment matrix would more than double to 7.2 mm.
Despite increasing the distance from cells to the gas source and limiting the surface area available for gas transfer, there are advantages to configurations in which a majority of the cell culture medium resides above the tissue construct. For example, during gravitational seeding if inoculum resides directly over the cell attachment matrix cells will deposit upon the cell attachment matrix, and not upon other areas of the bioreactor as commonly occurs with petri dish culture. Minimizing the amount of cell attachment onto areas of the bioreactor other than the cell attachment matrix is useful for applications in which cells that deposit and attach to surfaces of the tissue construct bioreactor, other that the cell attachment matrix, have a detrimental effect on the culture as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,480. For applications that are typically performed in petri dishes, the tissue construct bioreactor can be configured to allow nearly all of the inoculum to reside directly over the cell attachment matrix.
In the case where the tissue construct bioreactor walls are not gas permeable, and perfusion is not present, configuring the tissue construct bioreactor so that it can contain a gas/liquid interface will allow gas exchange in a batch fed tissue construct bioreactor. The gas should be in sterile communication with a source of gas residing outside of the bioreactor. Gaseous communication by way of a gas permeable sterile filter will prevent contamination. The gas/liquid interface acts to increase surface area for gas transfer relative to a non-gas permeable tissue construct bioreactor completely filled with cell culture medium.
If gas permeable walls are desired, a variety of gas permeable materials can be used. In general, suitable gas permeable materials are flexible. If the tissue construct bioreactor is comprised of flexible materials, there can be geometric benefits in addition to gas exchange as described herein. The best choice of material for gas exchange depends on the specific culture application. As a general guideline, the gas permeability of a given material should be considered in addition to the interaction of the material with either cells or protein structures. Liquid impermeable films of an equivalent thickness, exposed to equivalent cellular oxygen demand, will establish various steady state oxygen tensions in the cell culture medium. For example, fluorinated ethylene polymers, silicone, Teflon, and silicone polycarbonate copolymers will establish higher oxygen tension in the tissue construct bioreactor than will polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polysulfone, or polypropylene polymers. In some cases, such as when cost can be reduced or a hard shell housing can make handling easier, it may be desirable to only have a portion of the tissue construct bioreactor gas permeable. This is acceptable, provided that adequate gas exchange is achieved. In other cases, it may be desirable to have more than one type of gas permeable material present, such as the case where different gas transfer rates are desired. For example, when both the upper and lower tissue construct bioreactor walls are gas permeable, it may be desirable to minimize evaporation at the location closet to the cell mass due to the potential for increased local osmolarity. If that were the case in the configuration described in
Constructing the tissue construct bioreactor so that is can change volume without a breach in sterility can be beneficial. Benefits related to altering the volume of the tissue construct bioreactor include the ability to reduce the amount of packaging material, cost of transportation, and the use of inventory space. For example, packaging material can be reduced if the tissue construct bioreactor initially resides in a minimum volume state when place into a sterility bag, is subsequently removed from the sterility bag for use, and then expands in volume in response to fluids added during the cell culture process. The smaller sized sterility bag reduces the cost of packaging material, shipping, sterilization, and storage.
Furthermore, constructing the tissue construct bioreactor with the ability to change volume while remaining a closed system allows variability in the volume of gas and/or liquid that can reside in the tissue construct bioreactor at any given time. A wide variety of combinations of gas and liquid volumes can be retained in the tissue construct bioreactor.
Altering the distance between the tissue construct and the walls of the tissue construct bioreactor at some point after the culture process has been initiated can be beneficial. For example, bringing a wall of the bioreactor closer to the tissue construct at some point during a perfused culture may helpful in generating a well-mixed flow profile or altered velocity profile. Other beneficial reasons may be present, such as when the optimal volume of inoculum differs from the optimal volume of cell culture medium contained in the tissue construct bioreactor during the culture phase, when an increase in the gas exchange demands of a culture requires a gas permeable wall to get closer to the culture, when the oxygen tension that is optimal for cells needs to be altered without the ability to change the oxygen tension of the ambient surrounding, when microscopic viewing is needed and the focal length of the microscope at the desired magnification requires moving either the upper wall or lower wall closer to the tissue construct depending on what surface of the tissue construct is to be viewed, or when the appropriate volume of cryoprotectant differs from the appropriate amount of medium for culture.
The volume of the tissue construct bioreactor can be altered in a sterile manner without the use of flexible walls.
Minimizing the volume of gas residing within the tissue construct bioreactor can be beneficial in tissue construct applications in which cells should not come into direct contact with gas/liquid interfaces due to resulting detrimental effects such as those related to shear, or when cells, such as keratinocytes, can differentiate when exposed to gas. In bioreactors with a fixed volume, unwanted gas can become present during the culture even if it is not present at the onset of the culture. For example, this can occur if the cell culture medium rises in temperature, thereby experiencing a reduction in its gas carrying capacity.
Even in applications in which the presence of gas is acceptable from a biological standpoint, detrimental operational effects can occur if gas volume increases during use. A pressure increase within a bioreactor can occur when cell culture medium loses its gas carrying capacity if the tissue construct bioreactor is not free to expand in volume. Pressure will then seek to equilibrate with ambient conditions when the bioreactor access port, or ports, are accessed. This will increase the contamination risk if pressurized fluids, such as cell culture medium, are displaced from the bioreactor when a port is accessed. A flexible tissue construct bioreactor wall will alleviate this condition since it can expand to accommodate gas exiting the cell culture medium, thereby reducing the internal pressure relative to a bioreactor with non-flexible walls. Eventually, the gas permeable portion of the tissue construct bioreactor will allow pressure to equilibrate with ambient conditions by diffusion.
In a typical petri dish culture, the cell attachment matrix will settle to a given location determined by its specific gravity, and the amount of cell culture medium that resides on each side of the tissue construct is determined the location at which the cell attachment matrix comes to reside. Increasing control over the volume of medium residing on each side of the tissue construct can enhance repeatability in the culture process. The use of flexible tissue construct bioreactor walls can be advantageous when configuring the tissue construct bioreactor with the capability to allow a desired amount of cell culture medium to reside on each side of the tissue construct.
The tissue construct bioreactor and inoculation process should typically be designed with the objective of achieving a relatively even distribution of cells across the desired surface of the cell attachment matrix, while minimizing the deposit of cells onto other surfaces. Thus, positioning the cell attachment matrix to reside in a planar state will enhance seeding uniformity. When the tissue construct bioreactor is in the horizontal position, a well mixed cell suspension placed above the cell attachment matrix will allow cells to gravitationally settle upon the matrix in a well distributed pattern. In some applications, it may be desirable for the contact force that cells make with the cell attachment matrix during inoculation to exceed that caused by gravity in order to drive them into cell attachment matrix 20. In that case, placing the mixed suspension in the tissue construct bioreactor, and then centrifuging the bioreactor in a direction and at a velocity that drives cells into the cell attachment matrix can achieve that purpose. The same accelerated force typically used to re-suspend the specific type of cells in the application should be the initial target force for seeding so that the cells remain undamaged. Proper physical support for cell attachment matrix 20 should be present so that it remains in a relatively planar state. Iterations to the rotation rate to achieve the most desirable seeding pattern may be necessary, depending on the specific combinations of materials, cell type, and desired degree of penetration.
After cells have attached to cell attachment matrix 20, tissue construct bioreactor 10 is oriented in a vertical position such that clamp 37 resides at the upper position as shown in
Rotating the perimeter of tissue construct bioreactor 10 is made possible due to the flexible material comprising tissue construct bioreactor walls 30. A portion of tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 can be comprised of rigid material, provided that the rigid portion does not preclude positioning cell attachment matrix 20 in the desired location. At a minimum, the perimeter section comprising the upper and lower portion of the tissue construct bioreactor walls, when oriented in the vertical position, should be flexible so that the cell attachment matrix is capable of moving into the desired location within the tissue construct bioreactor.
For co-culture applications in which it is desirable to separate cells, two cell attachment matrices can reside in the bioreactor.
Each side of cell attachment matrix 20 can contain the same type of cell, or different types of cells, or one side may have no cells. Each compartment can house a different type of medium, or the same type of medium. Medium can comprise a liquid containing soluble nutrient substrates, or compounds used to elicit a response in the construct, such as when challenging a skin construct with an allergen, or fluid such as gas.
Cutting a tissue construct to a specific shape after culture can be desirable when the cell attachment matrix is prone to geometry changes during processing. For example, collagen has a tendency to contract as cells proliferate upon it. When unconstrained throughout the culture period, this results in a change in shape after the onset of culture. Post processing is then needed if a predetermined shape is desired. For example, in the culture of living skin, it can be desirable to create tissue with relatively straight edges so that the skin can be laid side by side on a target sight without the presence of untreated gaps. If the skin construct acquires an edge that is not straight due to a shape change in the cell attachment matrix during culture, post processing to create a straight edge can be achieved by cutting the construct. Cutting a tissue construct to a specific shape after culture can also be desirable when there are regions of the cell attachment matrix that are unwanted in the final construct. For example, constraining the cell attachment matrix during culture, to retain its shape, maintain it in a fixed location for inoculation or optimal feeding, or for any other reason will lead to sections of the cell attachment matrix that are in contact with the constraining member. Post culture, the sections of the cell attachment matrix that are not in contact with the constraining member can differ from the sections of the cell attachment matrix that are in contact with the constraining member. Thus, it may be desirable to remove that section prior to further use of the construct.
Advantages of these inventions include the ability to perform processing operations in a closed container, thereby minimizing the risk of contamination and damage that may occur from additional handling of the construct.
Cutting die 170 can reside either constrained or unconstrained within tissue construct bioreactor 10. If unconstrained, care should be taken to ensure that cutting die 170 does not damage cell attachment matrix 20 at any time prior to cutting. Also, care should be taken during the cutting process to ensure that cutting die 170 does not make a partial cut of the tissue construct, as would occur if cutting die 170 perimeter did not reside entirely upon cell culture matrix 20 at the onset of cutting. If constrained, cutting die 170 should be free to move in the direction normal to the plane in which cell attachment matrix 20 resides. Side to side movement once cutting die 170 makes contact with cell attachment matrix 20 may be needed to cut cell attachment matrix 20 depending on factors such as the strength of cell attachment matrix 20 and the sharpness of cutting die 170.
Cell attachment matrix 20 should be structured for removal according to the needs of a particular application. Thus, cell attachment matrix 20 may be captured entirely about its perimeter, partially captured, or reside in a completely un-captured state. For example, it may be desirable to capture cell attachment matrix 20 in a frame so that it can be handled in a manner that does not require direct physical contact with cell attachment matrix 20. In this manner, physically moving cell attachment matrix 20 can be achieved by making contact with frame 200, and not cell attachment matrix 20. There are also applications in which it is preferred that cell attachment matrix 20 is completely detached, and those in which it should be partially detached. For example, when living skin is to be physically positioned on a patient, any mechanism that had previously held it in position must first be removed. Doing so while it resides within the tissue construct bioreactor, such as by die cutting it, is advantageous in terms of minimizing contamination risk and potential tissue construct damage. If the living skin has a specific side that should face the patient when positioned, a partial cut can be helpful. In this method, the majority of the cell attachment matrix comprised of living skin would be pre-cut while residing in the closed tissue construct bioreactor. For example, three sides of a square or rectangular cell attachment matrix could be pre-cut while residing in the tissue construct bioreactor. Subsequently, the living skin would be removed from the tissue construct bioreactor by handling the frame. The frame would be designed in a non-symmetric manner, with text, color-coding, or some other features that clearly indicates the orientation of the living skin. The frame and living skin would be positioned upon the patient in the correct orientation, and the living skin would be fully removed from the frame by use of an instrument such as a scalpel.
As shown in
In
In some configurations, the distance between the cell attachment matrix and the tissue construct bioreactor wall may not be constant. This may occur for a variety of reasons. An example would be when the distance between the wall and the cell attachment matrix creates a capillary attraction in the presence of liquid that causes either the wall or the matrix, or both, to be drawn towards each other. Other examples include the cell attachment matrix not having the mechanical strength to retain a planar position and therefore sagging in unconstrained areas, or the tissue construct bioreactor wall not having the mechanical strength to retain a planar position and sagging in unconstrained areas. If the non-uniform spacing occurs, inoculation will result in differing seeding densities across the surface of the cell attachment matrix since the volume of inoculum residing above the matrix will vary.
In the case where the tissue construct bioreactor wall is flexible and can be driven towards the cell attachment matrix, such as when external pressure exceeds internal pressure or when capillary action draws it towards the cell attachment matrix, it can be constrained such that it resides substantially within a given plane by connecting it to a rigid outer shell. When the tissue construct bioreactor wall is gas permeable, the rigid outer shell should be configured such that the minimal contact with the gas permeable portion of the tissue construct bioreactor wall needed to retain the desired degree of planar position is attained. In this manner, the maximum gas contact with the gas permeable wall is allowed. In
When it is desirable to constrain the flexible gas permeable tissue construct bioreactor walls in a substantially planar state, such as when oriented in the horizontal position while containing liquid or when internal pressure exceeds external pressure, boss 340 and pocket 350 can be eliminated from outer housing 330, as best shown in
While the configurations described in
Seeding a cell attachment matrix within a non-compartmentalized tissue construct bioreactor, when the density of the cell attachment matrix exceeds that of the cell culture medium, can be achieved by the use of gravity. As shown in
Fluid can be delivered into the tissue construct bioreactors described herein in a batch or continuous manner, and in an automated or manual manner. In the case of a compartmentalized tissue construct bioreactor, continuous or batch feeding can occur on one side only, on both sides, or across the tissue construct. In the configuration shown in
Minimizing the risk of contamination is a very important factor in cell culture as well as in the tissue construct bioreactor designs. More than one access port can be used to gain access to fluid residing in the tissue construct bioreactors disclosed herein. However, configuring the access ports of the tissue construct bioreactor so that airborne contaminants do not enter the tissue construct bioreactor when adding or removing fluid can reduce contamination risk. If only one access port is needed for fluid access, contamination risk can be further reduced. The access port(s) can be configured to seal the tissue construct bioreactor from airborne contaminants during fluid handling by designing it to create a seal with fluid handing equipment. If at least one of the tissue construct bioreactor walls is comprised of a flexible material, the volume of the tissue construct bioreactor will self adjust as fluid is added and removed. If the tissue construct bioreactor is comprised of non-flexible material, fluid can still be added or removed using one port that is sealed to liquid handling equipment by configuring the tissue construct bioreactor such that its volume can be altered as best shown in
In the tissue construct bioreactor configurations of this invention, each access port is preferably configured to provide a sealed interface with typical fluid handling equipment, such as a pipette, syringe, syringe needle, perfusion circuit tubing, or perfusion circuit manifolds. For example, a luer lock or penetrable septum would achieve that purpose. When interfacing with a pipette, the access port should be configured to allow the pipette to remain attached to the vacuum pipettor when withdrawn. Also, in order to reduce contamination risk, non-sterile surfaces such as the vacuum pipettor or the technician's hand should not reside directly over the access port when the pipette interfaces with the access port.
The force needed to dislodge the pipette from the pipettor can vary depending on the pipette, the pipettor, the amount of wear on the rubber piece in the pipettor that the pipette fits into, and how far the operator inserts the pipette into the pipettor. To assess the variance in force, a pipette was inserted into a pipettor with as little penetration into the pipettor as needed to attain a seal, and as far into the pipettor as it could go. Then the amount of force needed to dislodge the pipette from the pipettor was measured. When the pipette had minimal penetration into the pipettor, the force required to dislodge a 10 ml pipette (Fisherbrand® 13-678-11E) from a pipettor (Integra Biosciences Pipetteboy acu model) was measured at 0.2 lb. When the same pipette had maximum penetration, the force required to dislodge it from the pipettor was measured at 4.2 lb. The thickness and material characteristics of the thin walled access opening 42 will affect the force it applies to pipette 44. For example, tests have demonstrated that when the material thickness of the thin walled access opening is 0.02 inches, and the cross-section is circular with an opening diameter of 0.085 inches, and the material has a durometer of 60 Shore A, a maximally inserted pipette will remain in a vacuum pipettor (Integra Biosciences Pipetteboy acu model) when the tip is removed from thin-wall access opening 42 when the pipette has maximal insertion into the pipettor. When the thin walled access opening 42 became wet, approximately 20% less resistance to pipette removal was encountered indicating that the ratio of material thickness to the diameter of thin walled access opening could be about 30% (i.e. 0.02 inches divided by 0.085 inches times 120%). Void volume 45 is designed such that it makes minimal contact with pipette tip 43 and allows pipette 44 to be inserted at, or rotated to, various angles. Preferably, the majority of gripping force applied to pipette tip 43 should occur from thin walled access opening 42 and not from contact with the walls enclosing void volume 45. Fluid access channel 46 allows unencumbered movement of fluid between the tissue construct bioreactor and pipette 44. In applications with cell suspensions, the volume of fluid access channel 46 can be reduced to minimize the number of cells that reside within it. For example, a 0.031 inch diameter, 0.5 inches long, will allow adequate flow while reducing the void volume. If void volume is not a concern, the cross-sectional area of access channel 46 can exceed that of thin walled access opening 42. If pipette tip 43 does enter fluid access channel 46, less gripping force will be exerted if fluid access channel 46 is a rigid material with a non-circular cross-sectional area, as contact area will be reduced.
Another method of preventing non sterile surfaces from residing directly above access port 40 during fluid handling is to configure the opening of pipette stop 47 with a dimension slightly larger than the dimension of thin walled access opening 42 that is required to create the desired seal of pipette 44, while still limiting penetration into void volume 45, thereby minimizing undesired force from being exerted on pipette tip 43 by the walls of void volume 45, as best shown in
Further reduction in contamination risk can be attained if the tissue construct bioreactor is capable of functioning as a cryopreservation container. To achieve this purpose in the configurations previously described, the tissue construct bioreactor should be comprised of materials commonly used in cryopreservation bags, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, poly-n-butylene, polyisobutylene, poly-4-methylpentene-1, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, polystyrene, halogenated polyethylene, polymethyl metacrylate, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride and copolymers thereof. Ideally, the tissue construct bioreactor should be designed such that uniform heat transfer occurs throughout the tissue construct. Thus, the walls of the tissue construct should be uniform in thickness to the maximum extent possible. Internal components, such as dies and mechanisms to hold the cell attachment matrix in a desired position, should be located such that they do not impede heat transfer at the surface of the tissue construct. When possible, access ports that cause non-uniformity in the tissue construct bioreactor wall should be positioned such that they do not reside above or below the surface of the cell attachment matrix.
Materials typically used in cryopreservation bags may not be suitable for the tissue construct bioreactor walls in some applications. For example, the gas permeability of those materials is inferior to materials not commonly used for cryopreservation bags, such as silicone. If the tissue construct bioreactor is comprised of material that can be damaged during cryopreservation, the tissue construct bioreactor can still be adapted to allow cryopreservation of the tissue construct without any need to first remove the cell attachment matrix and place it in a cryopreservation bag.
Preferably, the tissue construct bioreactor, cell attachment matrix, and the cryopreservation enclosure are first assembled and then sterilized. In the case where cryopreservation enclosure 130 does not allow adequate gas transfer for a particular tissue construct culture application, gas access to tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 is needed by way of gas compartment 140. Gas compartment 140 should be adapted such that gas can move in and out of it, either by passive diffusion or by forced movement. Preferably, gas exchange takes place without breaching the sterility of gas compartment 140, such as by way of sterile gas filter 150 residing in gas compartment access port 145. In this manner, the tissue construct bioreactor is capable of providing adequate gas exchange by way of gas permeable tissue construct bioreactor wall 30. Gas compartment spacer 160 prevents contact between tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 and cryopreservation enclosure 130 when either tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 or cryopreservation enclosure 130 are comprised of flexible materials. Thus, a space between tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 and cryopreservation enclosure 130 is maintained, forming gas compartment 140. Preferably, gas compartment spacer 160 is an open structure that retains tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 and cryopreservation enclosure 130 parallel with each other, thereby facilitating a uniform volume of gas residing within gas compartment 40. It allows gas to make contact with tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 to the maximum extent possible. For example, a 0.019 thick diamond weave mesh with 16 strands per inch (Nalle Plastics, Austin Tex.) can be used to allow relatively unrestricted diffusion of gas throughout gas compartment 140.
Prior to cryopreservation, both tissue construct bioreactor 10 by way of access port 40, and gas compartment 140 by way of gas compartment access port 145, can be filled with cryoprotectant in a manner that does not breach sterility. In this manner, if tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 loses the integrity of its liquid tight seal during the cryopreservation process, it is ensured that cryoprotectant, and not gas, makes contact with the tissue construct. If sterile filter 150 is not compatible with cryopreservation, it should be removed and aseptically replaced with a secured plug, such as a luer plug, prior to cryopreservation. If an aseptic technique of removing sterile filter 150 is deemed a contamination risk, sterile filter 150 can be configured with a needle to penetrate a septum. Thus, during removal, the system remains closed.
Care should be taken to assure that all surfaces that reside within cryopreservation enclosure 130 remain sterile. That will ensure that contamination of the tissue construct does not occur if tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 loses the integrity of its liquid tight seal during the cryopreservation process, and cryopreservation material of gas compartment 140 mixes with cryopreservation material of tissue construct bioreactor 10. Preferably, tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 and cryopreservation enclosure 130 parallel with each other leading to a uniform volume of cryoprotectant in contact with the surface of tissue construct bioreactor wall 30 and thereby facilitating uniform heat transfer.
Cryopreservation enclosure 130 is useful for all bioreactors and cell culture devices that are comprised of gas permeable material that will not necessarily maintain integrity during the cryopreservation process. For example, cryopreservation enclosure 130 can integrate a cell culture bag of the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,304 or the VectraCell™ marketed by Bio Vectra (Canada). The need maintain sterility is best achieved by integrating the cell culture bag into cryopreservation enclosure 130 prior to sterilization. Thus, those skilled in the art will recognize that the previously described attributes and features needed to allow gas access to the cell culture bag, such as those of gas compartment 140, and maintain sterility of the contents of the bag and cryopreservation enclosure 130 including gas compartment 140 when filled with cryoprotectant should be present.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications can be made thereof without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is not intended to limit the breadth of the invention to the embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A cryopreservation and cell culture device including:
- a cryopreservation enclosure, said cryopreservation enclosure being a liquid tight enclosure including at least one access port, and
- said cryopreservation enclosure including a tissue bioreactor, and
- said tissue bioreactor being a liquid tight container including at least one access port.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said tissue bioreactor is comprised at least in part of gas permeable material.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein a gas compartment is defined between an inner surface of the cryopreservation enclosure and an outer surface of said tissue bioreactor.
4. The device of claim 3 including a gas compartment access port.
5. The device of claim 4 wherein the gas compartment includes a gas filter, one side of said gas filter in contact with ambient gas and the other side of said gas filter in contact with gas residing in said gas compartment.
6. The device of claim 3 including a spacer disposed within the gas compartment.
7. The device of claim 6 wherein the spacer is a mesh.
8. A method of cryopreservation using the device of claim 1, said method including the steps of:
- adding cells and a cell culture medium into said tissue bioreactor; and
- culturing cells; and
- removing said cell culture medium and replacing it with a cryopreservation material; and
- cryopreserving said cells.
9. A method of cryopreservation using the device of claim 1, said method including the steps of:
- adding cells and a cell culture medium into said tissue bioreactor; and
- culturing cells; and
- removing said cell culture medium and replacing it with a cryopreservation material; and
- adding a cryopreservation material to said gas compartment; and
- cryopreserving said cells.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 2, 2010
Publication Date: Jun 3, 2010
Inventor: John R. Wilson (New Brighton, MN)
Application Number: 12/698,603
International Classification: C12N 5/02 (20060101); C12M 1/12 (20060101);
