Use of serum-free media for peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture and the impact on T and B cell readouts

The serum-free media formulations tested in this study offer defined systems for. measuring B cell IgG responses, <i>in vitro</i>, in either a 'T cell-independent' (CpG + IL-15) or "T cell-dependent" (PWM or CS) manner and for assessing B cell proliferation, particularly in response to a "T cell-independent" stimulus. However, there are some characteristics and features endowed by human serum that appear to be missing. Therefore, further work is required to optimise animal-free, chemically defined culture conditions for PBMC based assays for inclusion in tiered safety assessments.