JPH0657198U - Culture module - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To facilitate the exchange of the culture substrate for the closed vessel of the bioreactor device. [Structure] A container wall 11 and a container bottom 12 are assembled to form a culture container 1, a perforated disk-shaped porous sheet 7 is arranged at the bottom of the container 1, and then the culture module of the present invention is placed and stored. The perforated disc-shaped porous sheet 8 is placed on the upper part of the sheet. Subsequently, a container lid 13 is set on the upper part of the container 1, and at this time, the upper opening of the hollow tube 3 of the culture module is connected to the discharge port 13B of the container lid 13 so as to form the discharge flow path b through which the liquid flows. Match, combine, and fix. Supply ports 12A, 11B, discharge ports 13a, 13b
The operation (operation) of the bioreactor device can be started by completing the predetermined pipes for each of them.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a culture module applied to a bioreactor device for culturing and growing animal cells and microorganisms.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, a bioreactor device suitable for producing an enzyme or an anti-source produced by animal cells such as human cells in vitro has been known. For example, the device described in JP-A-4-63584 is known. is there. In this bioreactor device, a liquid supply port and a liquid discharge port, which will be described later, are provided, and a porous hollow tube for product collection, the outer periphery of which is covered with a microfiltration membrane, is arranged in the center of a closed culture container. A culture carrier consisting of a substrate made of a non-woven fabric in the form of a strip and a culture bed provided in a film form on the fibers of the non-woven fabric is wound and arranged in the space inside the container and around the hollow tube with a separator interposed therebetween. To be done. First, a liquid containing animal cells is supplied to the culture vessel to attach the animal cells to the culture bed, and then a liquid containing the culture medium and the substrate is appropriately supplied to culture and grow the animal cells on the culture bed. At the same time, the metabolites produced by the animal cells are collected (filtered) from the inside of the hollow tube through the microfiltration membrane.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Therefore, in order to cultivate a large amount of animal cells, a large number of the above bioreactor devices will be used, but it takes time and effort to store and arrange the culture substrate in the culture container of each bioreactor device, and to perform the culture. When changing the type of animal cells or the substrate solution to be supplied, it is necessary to take out and replace all the culture substrates in the container, which is a very troublesome task.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The inventor of the present invention has made the following inventions as a result of earnest studies to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. In other words, the present invention is a porous case that has a large number of openings through which liquid can flow, which can be put in and taken out from a culture vessel, and a porous membrane that is arranged at the center of the case and has a microfiltration membrane on the outer periphery. A culture module comprising a hollow tube and a culture substrate arranged inside the case and around the hollow tube, and in particular, the case is formed by a plate-shaped body having a large number of openings. Alternatively, the culture substrate is formed, or the culture substrate is composed of a carrier made of a band-shaped nonwoven fabric and a culture bed provided on the fibers of the carrier in a film form.

[0005]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of its embodiments. First, an outline of an example of a bioreactor device to which the culture module of the present invention can be applied will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example of the apparatus, in which the container 1 withstands high temperature sterilization treatment such as steam cleaning treatment, and has a bottom made of, for example, stainless steel, ceramic, hard glass, or body heat resin. A cylindrical container, a container wall 11 having a supply port 11B (supply channel B) for supplying a liquid containing a culture solution and a substrate formed in a part thereof, and a supply for supplying animal cells to the part The container bottom 12 is formed with a mouth 12A (supply channel A), and both form a container. The culture module of the present invention, which will be described later, is housed and arranged in this container 1. In that state, a flow path system of a supply flow path A-exhaust flow path a and a supply flow path B-exhaust flow path b is formed in the container 1, that is, actually, from the supply flow path A to the discharge flow path a. The liquid can be made to flow from the supply flow path B to the discharge flow path b.

The culture module of the present invention is basically of a size and shape that allows it to be put in and taken out of the container 1, and has a case 2 having a large number of openings through which a liquid can flow in its wall. 2, a porous hollow tube 3 having a microfiltration membrane 4 provided on the outer periphery thereof and a culture substrate arranged in the case 2 and in a space around the hollow tube 3. It is stored and arranged in the container 1 of the reactor device.

The case 2 is the most characteristic of the present invention, and is made of a plastic material, a metal material, or the like, and is a net-like body, a lattice-like body, a braided body, or a flat plate having a large number of holes or complicated openings. It is formed of various materials such as a strip. The form of the case 2 is basically a form of a container in which a flat plate material having an opening on the outer periphery of the container bottom 21 stands up in a cylindrical shape to form a container wall 22. It can be said that it is a "basket" such as a cylindrical shape or a rectangular tube shape. FIG. 2 shows an example of the case, in which a container wall 21 that is open in a lattice shape in the axial direction of a cylindrical case is formed. On the outer periphery of the container bottom (not shown), the container-like body 21 is formed in a cylindrical shape to form the container wall 21. The container wall 21 has openings 21a in a lattice shape, and liquid can flow inside and outside. Further, FIG. 3 shows another example of the case, in which a mesh body is used instead of the lattice shape of the example of FIG. Needless to say, the net-like container wall 21 has a sufficient opening so that liquid can flow in and out.

A porous hollow tube 3 is arranged in the center of the case 2. The porous hollow tube 3 has a large number of pores in the tube wall to form a flow path of the liquid supplied into the container, and has a closed bottom portion, and the other end of the hollow tube 3 is open. And forms a discharge path for the liquid that has entered the hollow tube 3. The hollow tube 3 is also made of stainless steel, ceramic, hard glass or heat resistant resin, like the container 1 of the bioreactor device. The shape of the hollow tube 3 may be any shape such as a cylinder or a square tube as long as it has the same function. A microfiltration membrane 4 is attached to the outer periphery of the hollow tube 3 so as to cover the holes of the hollow tube 3. The bottom of the hollow tube 3 is sealed so as to stop the flow of liquid, and the opening at the other end serves as a liquid discharge port, that is, a required product collection port. The microfiltration membrane 4 prevents the coarse substance in the container from flowing out, and allows only the liquid, which is the carrier of each main component, and the desired product to pass through and discharge.

On the other hand, the culture substrate 5 is formed, for example, by applying a culture bed on a non-woven fabric fiber, and the strip of the culture substrate 5 is made porous by interposing a corrugated plate-like separator 6. It is spirally wound around the outer circumference of the hollow tube 3 and stored in the case 2. The shape of the culture substrate 5 is not limited to a strip shape, but may be a short sheet shape that is placed and housed in the case 2 by stacking the above-mentioned isolation material, or a culture bed is formed on a granular porous carrier. Good.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the assembly and operation (operation) of the bioreactor device will be described. As described above, the vessel wall 11 and the vessel bottom 12 are assembled into the culture vessel 1, and the culture vessel 1 is attached to the bottom. A perforated disk-shaped porous sheet 7 is placed, then the culture module of the present invention is loaded and housed, and a perforated disk-shaped porous sheet 8 is also placed on top of it. Subsequently, the container lid 13 is set on the upper part of the container 1, and the upper opening of the hollow tube 3 of the culture module is set to the outlet 13B of the container lid 13 so as to form the discharge flow path b through which the liquid flows. Match, combine, and fix. When the supply ports 12A and 11B and the discharge ports 13a and 13b are respectively provided with predetermined pipes, the operation (operation) of the bioreactor device can be started.

In order to operate the bioreactor device using the culture module of the present invention, a liquid containing animal cells is supplied from the supply port 12A of the container 1 to fill the container 1 with the animal cells attached to the culture bed. After fixing, the culture solution and the substrate solution are supplied from the solution supply port 11b, and the animal cell is proliferated by the culture solution, and the proliferated animal cell absorbs the substrate solution to produce a metabolite. This metabolite is collected from the outlet 13b through the hollow tube 3 equipped with the microfiltration membrane 4.

[0012]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, since the culture substrate for animal cells and the hollow tube for collecting metabolites are housed in the case that can be put in and taken out from the closed container of the bioreactor device, Since it is not necessary to wind or arrange the culture substrate prior to the operation of the device, it is sufficient to simply insert the culture module into the device.Therefore, when the culture is completed or when the animal cells to be cultured are replaced, the size of the microfiltration membrane should be adjusted. When jamming etc., the culture substrate can be exchanged very easily and in a short time. Especially when a large number of bioreactor devices are used simultaneously for the purpose of large-scale culture of animal cells, the culture module of the present invention can be used. , The work is extremely efficient.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a bioreactor device incorporating a culture module according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a culture module according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the culture module.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: culture vessel, 12A: supply port for liquid containing animal cells,
11B: Supply port of culture solution and substrate solution, 13b: Supply port of liquid containing metabolites, 13a: Discharge port of liquid containing animal cells, 2: Case, 21a: Opening, 3: Porous hollow tube, 4: Microfiltration membrane, 5: culture substrate, 6: separator.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A culture container that can be put in and taken out,
A case having a large number of openings through which liquid can flow, a porous hollow tube arranged in the center of the case and provided with a microfiltration membrane on the outer periphery, and arranged in the case and around the hollow tube. And a culture substrate. 2. The case is formed of a flat plate-like body provided with a large number of openings.
The culture module according to 1. 3. The culture module according to claim 1, wherein the culture substrate comprises a carrier made of a band-shaped nonwoven fabric and a culture bed provided on the fibers of the carrier in a film form.