Bovine whey protein and other biological fluids as alternative to fetal bovine serum in supplementing cell culture media

ABSTRACT

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is still the mainstay as supplement to cell culture media for cell-culture practices. The collection method of FBS is a violent, ethically objectionable and repugnant. Moreover, FBS is cost-prohibitive for biomedical research. Here, we explored easily procurable and less expensive bovine whey protein (BWP) and other putative biological fluids for their growth promoting activity. BWP with minimal amount of FBS effectively supported cell growth in short term (72 h) and long term (21 days) cultures in Chinese hamster ovary and Jurkat E6.1 cells. The combination also protected the cells during cryopreservation and facilitated revival of the cell culture. However, BWP without FBS didn’t support the growth for longer and the cells changed their morphology. Further, BWP was enriched with human platelet lysate and it maintained the cell growth and morphology at a very low concentration.