SoloHill® Microcarriers

Animal Protein-Coated and Animal Component-Free Microcarriers

Meeting market demands is a constant challenge in bioprocessing and often requires improvements to cell culture productivity. Spherical microcarriers support higher cell growth by providing a high surface-to-volume ratio. SoloHill® Microcarriers promote excellent anchorage-dependent cell line attachment, growth and have been used to produce animal and human health products for over 30 years. They fit into any process involving adherent cells and are an excellent choice for scaling up projects with limited process development timelines and capital investment.

Microcarriers – Find the Right Solution

SoloHill® Animal Component-Free Microcarriers

Sartorius offers four types of high-performing certified animal component-free SoloHill® microcarriers for researchers and industrials who require a completely serum-free media and animal product-free process. The beads — made of a solid core matrix — support the robust growth of anchorage-dependent cells. Surface charge further enhances cell attachment.


Hillex® II

Plastic

Plastic Plus

Star-Plus

Description

Modified Polystyrene

Cross-linked Polystyrene

Cross-linked Polystyrene

Cross-linked Polystyrene

Surface Charge 

Yes, Cationic charged

No

Yes, Cationic-charged

Yes

Part Number Prefix

H-170

P-221

P-215

PP-221

SP-221

Size Range

150 – 210 µm

125-212 µm

90-150 µm

125 - 212 µm

125 - 212 µm

Specific Gravity

1.080 - 1.150

1.022 - 1.030

1.022 - 1.030

1.022 - 1.030

1.020 - 1.035

Nominal Surface Area

515 cm2

360 cm2

480 cm2

360 cm2

360 cm2

SoloHill® Animal Protein-Containing Microcarriers

Animal collagen has proved to be a useful promoter of cell attachment and growth in monolayer cultures of adherent cell lines. SoloHill® animal protein containing microcarriers can be easily moved between collagen-based monolayers, more space-efficient 3D cultures and are ideal for cell attachment kinetics across a wide variety of tested cell lines.


Collagen

FACT III

Description 

Cross-linked Polystyrene

Cross-linked Polystyrene

Coating

Type 1 porcine collagen

Surface modified Type 1 porcine collagen

Surface Charge

No

Yes, Cationic-charged

Part Number Prefix

C-215

C-221

C-421

F-221

Size Range 

90 - 150 µm

125 - 212 µm

125 - 212 µm

125 - 212 µm

Specific Gravity 

1.022 - 1.030

1.022 - 1.030

1.034 - 1.046

1.022 - 1.030

Nominal Surface Area

480 cm2

360 cm2

360 cm2

360 cm2

 

Animal Component-Free Microcarriers

Hillex® II Microcarriers

The cationic amine-modified microporous surface of the Hillex® II microcarriers with polystyrene core improves cell attraction and attachment without affecting cell harvest efficiency.

Plastic

Compared to porous microcarriers, styrene copolymer microcarriers are constructed from solid non-toxic plastic which prevents absorption of toxic byproducts and makes harvesting simple with cell viabilities typically greater than 95%. The plastic beads allow for easy process transfer out of traditional styrene labware methods such as roller bottles and monolayers.

Plastic Plus

Incorporated with an electric charge, the Plastic Plus microcarriers strengthen cell attraction and attachment. Like the non-toxic Plastic microcarriers, Plastic Plus are solidly constructed from styrene copolymer and harvest cell viabilities are typically greater than 95%.

Star-Plus

Star-Plus microcarriers are positively charged, rigid, spherical and animal protein-free. They foster quick cell attachment and excellent growth of multiple cell types under a variety of environmental conditions, making them ideal for incorporation into single-use manufacturing processes. Each manufactured lot of Star-Plus microcarriers is performance-tested for cell attachment and growth.

Animal Protein-Coated Microcarriers

Collagen-Coated

SoloHill® Collagen-Coated microcarriers promote rapid attachment and growth for a large variety of anchorage-dependent cell lines

Fast Attachment Collagen Treated (FACT) III

FACT microcarriers have improved attachment kinetics and proprietary surface modification for enhanced growth performance.

Complete Your Process With Comprehensive Solutions

Bioreactors & Fermenters

Sartorius offers a complete scalable bioreactor platform from cell and strain line development to commercial manufacturing.

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MSC Therapy

Sartorius solutions provide robust and efficient performance for MSC therapy applications.

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Learn More About Microcarriers

SoloHill® Microcarriers

Microcarrier

Master File Number

Hillex®

27283

Plastic

27282

Plastic Plus

27281

Star Plus

27284

Collagen

26999

FACT III

27280


Microcarriers are widely used to promote the growth of anchorage-dependent cells. SoloHill® microcarriers have proven efficiency in various industries such as:

  • Veterinary vaccine with animal cell lines
  • Advanced therapy with stem cells


FDA-licensed human therapeutics

USDA-licensed animal vaccines

Thyroid cancer diagnostic

Equine influenza

Thyroid cancer therapy

Canine parvovirus

Beta interferon – MS indication

Feline leukemia and many others

Cell Line

Description

Star Plus

Plastic & Plastic-Plus

Collagen- Coated

Charged Collagen- Coated

VERO

Monkey kidney

 

 

 

CEF

Chick embryo fibroblast

 

ST

Swine testes

 

BT

Bovine turbinate

 

P4RSF

Rabbit skin fibroblast

 

MRC-5

Human diploid fibroblast

 

KB

Human epithelial carcinoma

 

HFF

Human foreskin fibroblast

   

UMSCC

Human squamous carcinoma

    

MDBK

Madin-Darby bovine kidney

  

CHO

Chinese hamster ovary

 

MDCK

Madin-Darby canine kidney

 

hMSC

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

  

FAQs - Microcarriers

Microcarriers are support matrices that enable the culture of adherent cells in bioreactors. Rather than growing on a flat surface, cells are cultivated on the surface of small spherical beads (microcarriers), each carrying several hundred cells, significantly increasing the cell expansion capacity. Microcarrier-based cell culture systems promote higher cell yields and are relatively flexible as they can be integrated into existing bioprocess systems such as stirred bioreactors and spinner flasks.

Microcarriers are microporous beads, typically less than 500 μm in diameter, with a surface that promotes efficient attachment and spreading of cells. Microcarrier beads can support the production of significant amounts of cells due to their large surface area. Therefore, they are a convenient solution for producing vaccines and other biologics. They were one of the first methods used for supporting large-scale mammalian cell culture.

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Allegro STR 50 L bioreactor: Generate and expand high-quality cells

Using the Allegro STR 50 L bioreactor to generate and expand hMSCs on collagen microcarriers

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Enhancing manufacturing with Allegro Microcarrier Delivery System

Presterilized, ready-to-use microcarriers can speed production and reduce contamination risk. Learn how AMDS can save your time and money.

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Application Note

Expanding MRC-5 Cells on SoloHill® Microcarriers

Learn how SoloHill® Microcarriers can support MRC-5 cell growth in stirred vessels with potential for scale-up to large bioreactors.

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Poster

Learn How Solohill® Microcarriers Fit Into Your Adherent-Cell Process

SoloHill® Microcarriers can help you scale up with limited process development timelines

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Expansion of Porcine SK-RST Cells on Hillex® II Microcarriers via Serial Passage in Stirred Vessels

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Build your ideal bundle for cell culture with our selection of media, growth factors, cytokines, and microcarriers.

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