Large-Scale Antibody Production in CHO Cells
In-scale transient expression: electroporate 2×109 CHO cells in a single 10 ml tube and harvest g/L antibody titers in 7 days.
CHO cells per 10 ml tube
Fed-batch culture
(up to 1 L with transposons)
Efficiency with
6 kb plasmid
To g/L antibody titers
One Instrument, Every Scale
Model SLT handles 200 µl to 10 ml tubes, from stable cell line generation to gram-scale production. It also supports cell fusion accessories for hybridoma generation.
| Tube | CHO cells | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 200 µl | 2×107 | Stable cell line generation |
| 1 ml | 2×108 | 20–40 ml fed-batch, condition screening |
| 10 ml | 2×109 | 400 ml fed-batch, or 1 L with transposon vectors |
Need more than gram quantities? Generate a stable expression pool from a single 10 ml electroporation in 10–14 days. Freeze it and repeat production anytime with consistent yields.
Fed-Batch Workflow
Electroporate and seed at ~10×106 cells/ml, 37 °C
Feed #1, shift to 32 °C
Feed #2
Feed #3
Harvest, or keep feeding to Day 10–12
Harvest when viability drops from ~95% to ~75%.
Tips for higher titers
- Seed at 50–75% of your medium’s maximal cell density
- Culture at 32 °C after Day 1 for better cell survival
- Add 1 mM sodium butyrate for up to 2× protein expression
- Use transposon (PiggyBac, Sleeping Beauty) or EBNA1-based vectors for even higher yields
- Electroporate at room temperature with ~100 µg/ml plasmid DNA
Celetrix SLT vs Flow Electroporation
| Feature | Celetrix 10ml tube | (Other brand) Flow electroporation |
|---|---|---|
| CHO cell number | 2×109 | 1×1010 (100 ml) |
| Processing time | 1 second (single pulse) | 20 minutes |
| HC+LC plasmids | 1 mg | 20 mg |
| Culture volume (pcDNA vector) | 200-400 ml | 2 L |
| Antibody amount | up to 300 mg | up to 1 gram |
| Culture volume (Transposon vector) | 1-2 L | * |
| Antibody amount | up to 2 gram | * |
| Sample cost | Very low | High |
*Transposon vectors do not need cumbersome super large scale electroporation.
CHO Transient Antibody Production FAQs
Celetrix Model SLT electroporates CHO-K1, CHO-S, 293F and Vero cells, as well as stimulated T and NK cells. For unstimulated PBMCs, use Celetrix Model LE+ or EX+.
Celetrix Model SLT electroporates 2×109 CHO cells in a single 10 ml tube for a 400 ml fed-batch culture (up to 1 L with transposons), reaching g/L antibody titers in 7 days.
No. With Celetrix electroporation, medium choice is less critical than with chemical transfection. Choose a medium that supports high cell density and long culture.
For Celetrix electroporation, use 50–200 µg/ml plasmid DNA, typically 100 µg/ml, about 1 mg per 10 ml tube.
Harvest on Day 7, when viability falls to about 75%. With extra feeding, Celetrix-electroporated CHO cultures can run to Day 10–12.