Development of a Serum-Free Media Based on the Optimal Combination of Recombinant Protein Additives and Hydrolysates of Non-animal Origin to Produce Immunoglobulins

The potential ability to cultivate a recombinant immunoglobulin (IgG1)-producer line in Iscove’s Modified Dulbecco Medium (IMDM) as the base cultivation medium with the introduction of recombinant proteins and hydrolysates of non-animal origin was studied. Recombinant insulin, human serum albumin (produced by E. coli bacteria), and transferrin (by Pichia pastoris yeasts) were used to enrich the medium. A combination of protein additives (part of the developed medium) allowed an increase in the productivity of a stable producer culture of recombinant humanized antibodies based on CHO-line cells by 44% as compared with the used complex commercial insulin–transferrin–selenium (ITS) additive. The introduction of pea and rice protein hydrolysates containing peptides with a molecular weight lower than 5 kDa to modified IMDM medium contributed to an increase in line productivity by 3.9 and 4.5 times, respectively.