A structured, dynamic model for animal cell culture: application to baculovirus insect cell systems

Viral infection can have significant effects on the behaviour of cell cultures and the interaction of baculoviruses with insect cells is currently of particular interest. This paper examines a number of existing mathematical models for this phenomenon and describes the development of an extension to a structured model for cellular metabolism. This extension is capable of describing the effects of multiple and secondary infection, the actions of defective interfering particles and the release of viral products through cell lysis, as well as considering the metabolic effects of infection. The basic model is applied to uninfected SF9 cultures, demonstrating that, with a suitable adjustment of its parameters, a model that successfully described hybridoma cells can also be used for insect cells. The extended model is applied to an infected culture and describes the infection process well. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.