Why are K562 feeder cells often preferred for cell expansion? How do they compare to cytokines or other feeder systems?

In NK cell and CAR-NK cell expansion systems, cytokine-based methods are simple to operate, but their expansion efficiency and enhancement of cell function are limited in large-scale cultures (especially beyond 2 L), making it difficult to achieve high-fold expansion and consistent products.

In contrast, Hillgene's K562 feeder cells provide stable membrane-bound stimulation signals, enabling more efficient and consistent NK cell expansion in large-scale systems, while also supporting the generation of functionally potent effector cells. This makes them suitable for industrial-scale and “off-the-shelf” cell therapy production.

Other feeder systems have certain limitations: irradiated PBMCs are often used for autologous TIL expansion, offering high safety but relatively low expansion (typically several hundred-fold); human fibroblast-based systems such as HFWT are limited in source, costly, and overall less efficient for industrial-scale expansion.

Overall, Hillgene's K562 feeder cells offer superior comprehensive advantages in terms of expansion efficiency, scalability, and compatibility with CMC/IND submissions.

Click to explore the superior performance of Hillgene's K562 feeder cell.

→ Genetically Modified K562 Feeder Cell - Hillgene Biopharma Co., Ltd.