Research Article

Investigation of Growth Properties of BHK-21 Cells with Different Characteristics to Comprise a Cell Bank in Low Serum-Supplement Medium in The Monolayer Culture System

Number: Advanced Online Publication March 6, 2026
EN TR

Investigation of Growth Properties of BHK-21 Cells with Different Characteristics to Comprise a Cell Bank in Low Serum-Supplement Medium in The Monolayer Culture System

Abstract

BHK-21 cell lines with distinct growth characteristics are widely used in the production of Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccines, and seed cell stocks are traditionally cultured in a monolayer system in GMEM medium containing 10% FBS. This study investigated the adaptation of BHK-21 An30 and BHK-21 An73 cell lines to Cellvento™ BHK-200 medium containing 2% FBS and examined the effects on their growth characteristics. Both cell lines underwent serial passages in serum-free medium supplemented with low serum, followed by analyses of viability, apoptosis, cell-cycle distribution, and colony-formation efficiency. Population doubling times were determined by generating growth curves after adaptation. BHK-21 An30 (t(33) = 2.410, p = .022*) and BHK-21 An73 (t(33) = 5.116, p < .001**) cultured in Cellvento™ BHK-200 medium showed higher growth than those grown in GMEM medium containing 10% FBS. Similarly, generation-dependent growth analyses demonstrated higher cell numbers for An30 (t(6) = 5.945, p = .012*) and An73 (t(6) = 2.882, p = .028*) in Cellvento™ BHK-200 compared with the control group. Cells grown in GMEM with 10% FBS exhibited higher colony-forming efficiency. Although viability and apoptosis rates did not differ significantly between the two media, the proportion of apoptotic cells decreased, and overall viability increased with additional passages in the low-serum-supplemented medium for both cell lines. The findings demonstrate that cell banks can be established in low-serum-supplemented, serum-free media, offering a feasible solution for large-scale cell culture production of Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccines.

Keywords

Thanks

The authors would like to thank the Directorate of the Foot and Mouth Disease Institute in Ankara for providing all the institute's facilities for the study. Haydar KARADAS performed this work in partial fulfillment of the M.Sc. degree in Agricultural Biotechnology at Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Turkiye. This study was presented at the 10th International Scientific Research Congress on Science and Engineering, held on April 11–12, 2021, in Ankara, Turkiye.

References

  1. Broedel, S.E., & Papciak, S.M. (2003). The Case for Serum-Free Media. BioProcess International, February, 56-58.
  2. Butler, M. (2015). Serum and Protein Free Media (pp, 226–227). In: M. Al-Rubeai (ed.), Animal Cell Culture, Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10320-4
  3. Capes-Davis, A. & Freshney, R.I. (2021). Freshney's culture of animal cells: A manual of basic technique and specialized applications. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, USA.
  4. Cecchini, M.J., Amiri, M., & Dick, F.A. (2012). Analysis of cell cycle position in mammalian cells. JoVE, 59, 3491. https://doi: 10.3791/3491
  5. Chelladurai, K.S., Christyraj, J.D.S., Rajagopalan, K., Yesudhason, B.V., Venkatachalam, S., Mohan, M., Vasantha, N.C., Retnaraj, J., Christyraj, S.S. (2021). Alternative to FBS in animal cell culture: An overview and future perspective. Heliyon, 7(8), e7686. https://doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07686
  6. Chen, T. & Chen, K. (2009). Investigation and Application Progress of Vero Cell Serum-free Culture. International Journal of Biology, 1(2), 41–47.
  7. Demir, S., Ayazoglu Demir, E., Aliyazicioglu, Y. (2020). Selective Cytotoxic Effect of Astaxanthin on Human Lung and Colon Cancer Cells. KSU Journal of Agriculture and Nature, 23(6), 1489-1494. https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.712905
  8. Fang, C.Y., Wu, C.C., Fang, C.L., Chen, W.Y., Chen, C.L. (2017). Long-term growth comparison studies of FBS and FBS alternatives in six head and neck cell lines. PLoS One, 12(6), e0178960. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178960

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Agricultural Biotechnology (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

March 6, 2026

Publication Date

March 6, 2026

Submission Date

August 8, 2025

Acceptance Date

December 29, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: Advanced Online Publication

APA
Karadaş, H., Yılmaz, Ş., & Kaya, M. (2026). Investigation of Growth Properties of BHK-21 Cells with Different Characteristics to Comprise a Cell Bank in Low Serum-Supplement Medium in The Monolayer Culture System. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım Ve Doğa Dergisi, Advanced Online Publication, 1147-1160. https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.1759236


International Peer Reviewed Journal
Free submission and publication
Published 6 times a year



88x31.png


KSU Journal of Agriculture and Nature

e-ISSN: 2619-9149