Correlating composition and functionality of soy protein hydrolysates used in animal cell cultures

Abstract Soy protein hydrolysates are often supplemented to chemically defined (CD) media in cell cultures, but there is little understanding of the effect of their composition on their functionality (viable cell density, total immunoglobulin (IgG), and specific IgG production). To identify the key parameters (e.g. compound classes) that determine their functionality, hydrolysates were prepared from different starting materials (meal, concentrates, and isolate) and from soybean meal that was heated for different time periods. The functionality of these hydrolysates were compared to those of industrial hydrolysates. From the comparison, it was shown that the variation in industrial and experimental processes of hydrolysate production induced larger variation in the functionality than the variation in starting materials. Moreover, it was observed that the correlations between the functionality and compositional parameters observed in one experiment were absent in the other experiments. During the study, it became apparent that the variations in other factors, like CD media and temperature during culturing also resulted in variation in functionality. The extent of variations in the functionality due to variation in CD media and temperature during culturing was equivalent to the variation caused by varying the hydrolysate composition. The functionality data of the different experiments were fitted with a model that described the relation between specific IgG production and viable cell density. Using the model, the maximum achievable total IgG production could be calculated for a culture condition. This information can provide directions for further optimization of hydrolysates to maximize total IgG production.