The present invention provides a
cell culture medium formulation that supports the
in vitro cultivation, particularly in suspension, of mammalian cells, particularly epithelial cells and
fibroblast cells, and methods for cultivating mammalian cells in suspension
in vitro using these media. The media comprise a
basal medium and a polyanionic or polyanionic compound, preferably a polysulfonated or polysulfated compound, and more preferably
dextran sulfate. The present invention also provides chemically defined,
protein-free
eukaryotic cell culture media comprising an
iron chelate and
zinc, which is capable of supporting the growth (and particularly the high-density growth of mammalian cells) in
suspension culture, increasing the level of expression of recombinant
protein in cultured cells, and / or increasing
virus production in cultured cells.