L-Asparagine is a supplement commonly used in cell culture media to promote cell growth. It is a component of MEM non-essential amino acids solution and is also added to Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) for culturing various primary cell lines.

L-Asparagine is a naturally occurring proteinogenic amino acid, used in biomanufacturing cell culture systems for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Engineered Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell strains have found extensive use in the production of a variety of recombinant proteins, including monoclonal antibodies (mAb), for therapeutic purposes. It has been observed that the strategic use of L-asparagine in the culture media can significantly boost the yield of bioproducts in CHO cell culture. The production of antibodies and the specific rate of antibody production can be enhanced by supplementing the CHO culture media with a combination of asparagine and the amino acid glutamine. Furthermore, the cell-specific productivity in CHO cells saw an increase of 85% when the culture media was supplemented with asparagine and another amino acid, cysteine.