Our Insulin Human AF, also known as recombinant insulin, is a key component in serum-free growth media for mammalian cells

Applications for recombinant insulin

Insulin Human AF is a key component in serum free growth media for mammalian cells. It is used as supplement in the cell culture media for several cell lines, such as CHO, HEK293 or Sf9, for the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies, virus vaccines, or gene therapy products.

Insulin increases mAbs yields in CHO cells

Important proteins in the development of oncology treatments, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are most often produced in CHO cells. Data show supplementing Insulin Human AF to the cell culture media leads to an increase in the yield of mAb production of up to 66%.

Find the full details of the study here.

Insulin enhances AAV and LV viral vectors production

In the growing gene therapy and viral vector industries, recombinant insulin is helping manufacturers to scale-up production, optimise processes, and increase cellular products yields. Data show that supplementing insulin to HEK293 cell cultures leads to a 68% increase in titres of adeno-associated virus serotypes 2, 5, and 8 (AAV2, AAV5, AAV8). For lentivirus (LV), the increase in virus titer observed following insulin supplementation corresponds to the 120% (figure).

Find the full details of the study here.

Insulin increases Influenza Virus production in HEK293 cells

One of the major challenges of the viral vaccine industry is to produce large quantities of vaccines in a fast, cost-effective way. Supplementing insulin to chemically defined media for the cell culture of influenza virus-producing HEK293 cells results in a 4-fold cell growth increase and a 60% virus production increase.

Find the full details of the study here.

Other studies using recombinant insulin are available here.

Insulin Human AF – enabling better medicines

10 reasons to choose Insulin Human AF

Recombinant Insulin is sourced directly from Novo Nordisk, the world’s largest producer of Insulin. With 100 years of experience with Insulin, Novo Nordisk ensures the most stable and well-established manufacturing processes and specialist know-how on the market. By providing excellence at every step of the supply chain, Novo Nordisk Pharmatech is the market leading supplier of insulin for cell culture processes

Download the 10 reasons why Insulin Human AF brochure here.

A guide to using recombinant insulin to enhance cell culture growth

Produced naturally by the body, growth factors function to regulate cell division and cell survival in vivo. They can be biosynthetically produced and have a strong history of use in the pharmaceutical industry, where they help manufacturers to optimise yields of biologic drug products. A prime example is insulin – a key component in serum-free growth media for mammalian cells.

Insulin is part of a family of growth factors, including Insulin-Like Growth Factors IGF 1 and IGF 2. Novo Nordisk Pharmatech’s Insulin Human AF is a recombinant insulin product used by biopharmaceutical companies worldwide in the production of monoclonal antibodies, virus vaccines, and gene therapy drugs, plus a range of other innovative biologic products.

As insulin binds to a receptor, it initiates different intracellular signalling pathways involved in regulating cell growth, cell differentiation, cell survival, and cellular glucose uptake. By modulating transcription, DNA synthesis, and replication, and stimulating protein translocation, insulin promotes cell culture growth and enhances yields.

Insulin Human AF is best-used in serum-free (chemically defined) media. Let’s take a look at some examples.

What do the studies say?

Important proteins in the development of oncology treatments, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are most often produced in CHO cells. With the application of Insulin Human AF, data has shown up to a 66% yield increase in mAb production, alongside increases in cell viability and density.

In the growing gene therapy and viral vector industries, recombinant insulin is helping manufacturers scale-up production, optimise processes, and increase yields. Looking at the influence of insulin on viral vectors for adeno-associated virus serotypes 2, 5, and 8 expressed in HEK 293 cells, Novo Nordisk Pharmatech has observed up to a 68% increase in titres compared to the control. For lentivirus, up to 120% increase in yields was noted.

The viral vaccine industry is also under pressure to produce large quantities of vaccines in a fast, cost-effective way. In a study using HEK 293 cells for influenza vaccines, it has been observed that adding recombinant insulin to chemically defined media can produce up to a four-fold cell growth increase and a 60% yield increase.

The full details of these studies and other application notes are available on demand from Novo Nordisk Pharmatech. There is a body of evidence supporting the use of this growth factor for the proliferation of mammalian cells, but what do you need to consider when working with insulin?

What you should know

If using commercially available media, it is important to know the full contents of the media, including whether insulin is already contained. Using this information, manufacturers will most likely need to optimise the media to their own cell line and the desired end-product. This can involve optimising the insulin level by doing trials at different concentrations. Based on our own published data, Novo Nordisk Pharmatech is happy to guide customers on which insulin concentrations will produce the highest yields for their desired cell line.

If you decide recombinant insulin is the right growth factor for your cell culture, the next step is to ensure you source it from a reliable, fully qualified supplier. It is also important to use ingredients with a high batch-to-batch consistency, helping you keep better control of your processes. Insulin Human AF is manufactured by our parent company, Novo Nordisk, and supplied to patients around the world for therapeutic use. Manufactured in cGMP facilities and following an ISO 9001 quality system, the product is produced in accordance with the highest requirements on the market.

Insulin Human AF comes in a dry crystalline form, which can be dissolved in water. It has a long shelf life of five years but must be stored and handled carefully across this time. To ensure Insulin Human AF stays within product specifications, it should be stored at freezing temperature, below -20°C. However, the product can tolerate being held in refrigerator or room temperature for limited periods of time.

If you need instructions for dilution, you can find our information sheet here.