DEVELOPMENT OF A CULTURE CARRIER FOR ANCHORAGE-DEPENDENT ANIMAL-CELLS USING CALCIUM-PHOSPHATE CERAMIC SINTERS

Effects of the chemical and physical structure of bioactive ceramic sinters made by synthesized hydroxyapatite (HAP) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) on cell growth were studied to develop new carrier materials for cultivation of anchorage-dependent animal cells. A sophisticated analytic method using animal cells was used to characterize the affinity between the cells and ceramic sinters. In this method, cells were treated with trypsin for three minutes before culturing on ceramic plates. The initial anchoring cell ratio and the specific growth rate on the sintered plate were measured to compare the bioaffinity of ceramic materials. Using sintered mixtures of HAP and TCP as culture carriers, the initial anchoring ratios on the plates were reduced compared to a polystyrene culture dish (LUX) and a glass dish which were used as control test samples. The growth rate of cells was slightly accelerated on some of ceramic plates, however. The highest value of the specific growth rate, 0.049 (1/h), which was about 11% higher than the rate on the LUX plate, was obtained on the sinter which consists of a 4:1 mixture of HAP and TCP. © 1989.