Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Hollow Fiber Bioreactors for In Vivo-like Mammalian Tissue Culture

Name: Hollow Fiber Bioreactors for In Vivo-like Mammalian Tissue Culture
Uploaded: 2026-06-21
Duration: 8 min 28 s
Description: Tissue culture has been used for over 100 years to study cells and responses ex vivo. The convention of this technique is the growth of anchorage ...

DOI: 10.3791/53431-v

What you'll learn

✓ Assemble and sterilize a hollow fiber bioreactor module for mammalian cell culture
✓ Seed cells into hollow fiber systems and maintain in vivo-like 3D culture conditions
✓ Assess cell viability, proliferation, and biochemical output in bioreactor cultures

Protocol

The functional behavior of cells in culture can be improved by culturing in more in vivo-like 3-dimensional culture environments16-21. This manuscript describes the set-up and operation of a hollow fiber bioreactor system for in vivo-like mammalian tissue culture.

Difficulty

intermediate

Total time

~1–2 weeks (module fabrication ~2–3 hours; culture period ~7–14 days)

Model organism

Mammalian cells (species/line not specified in abstract)

Biosafety

BSL-1

Steps

Fabricate hollow fiber bioreactor module

Assemble the hollow fiber module components according to protocol specifications. This foundational step prepares the culture vessel for downstream seeding and operation.

▶ 00:35

Set up and sterilize the bioreactor system

Configure the bioreactor apparatus and apply sterilization procedures to ensure aseptic culture conditions. Includes equipment assembly and terminal sterilization steps.

▶ 01:58

Seed mammalian cells into hollow fiber module

Introduce cells into the bioreactor module at appropriate density and monitor initial cell distribution. Establishes the starting population for in vivo-like 3D culture.

▶ 04:12

Excise fiber samples for analysis

Carefully remove hollow fiber sections from the bioreactor for downstream histological or biochemical evaluation. Minimizes disruption to remaining culture.

▶ 06:01

Analyze seeding, viability, and biochemical markers

Assess cell proliferation, viability, and biochemical output (e.g., protein secretion) from cultured tissues. Quantifies functional performance of in vivo-like culture system.

▶ 06:44

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