EN
A porous gelatin sponge Spongostan (Ferrosan Denmark) as a carrier for the cultivation of several adherent cell lines and strains was tested. This material provide considerably greater surface available for cells than conventional bottles. Moreover, it allows to maintain high cell viability (over 87%) during culture time. When cells were cultured on Spongostan discs (wet vol. 0.11 cm3), no phenotypic changes in cell adherence and proliferation dynamics were observed. However, when cells adhered to Spongostan were frozen down and kept for 5 months in liquid nitrogen, they lost about 65% of their viability. Generally, Spongostan can be considered as a universal carrier for three-dimensional culture of many cell types, but it cannot be used for cells? freezing.