Abstract
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes significant morbidity among children, threatening children's health with severe neurological complications. Since the first outbreak in Taiwan in 1998, approximately 2,000 children have been affected with severe disease caused by EV71, resulting in 250 deaths. Up to now, there are still neither effective anti-EV71 therapies nor preventing vaccines available. Our group has confirmed in animal models that EV71 virus-like particles (VLP) produced by baculovirus/insect cell system can elicit effective immune responses, suggesting that EV71 VLP is a potential vaccine candidate. This study thus aims to develop a convenient process for mass production by using the novel oscillating bioreactor. Taking the cost of mass production into consideration, the cells were infected with the recombinant baculovirus at an MOI (multiplicity of infection) of 0.1 and the production parameters were optimized in small shaker flasks. The production process was further transferred to BelloCell®, a 500 ml disposable packed-bed reactor developed by Cesco Bioengineering for high-density cell culture for the VLP production. After determining the process parameters in BelloCell® system, we further utilized the larger TideCell® to make the whole process much more efficient.