Development of a new bioprocess scheme using frozen seed train intermediates to initiate CHO cell culture manufacturing campaigns

Agility to schedule and execute cell culture manufacturing campaigns quickly in a multi‐product facility will play a key role in meeting the growing demand for therapeutic proteins. In an effort to shorten campaign timelines, maximize plant flexibility and resource utilization, we investigated the initiation of cell culture manufacturing campaigns using CHO cells cryopreserved in large volume bags in place of the seed train process flows that are conventionally used in cell culture manufacturing. This approach, termed FASTEC (Frozen Accelerated Seed Train for Execution of a Campaign), involves cultivating cells to high density in a perfusion bioreactor, and cryopreserving cells in multiple disposable bags. Each run for a manufacturing campaign would then come from a thaw of one or more of these cryopreserved bags. This article reviews the development and optimization of individual steps of the FASTEC bioprocess scheme: scaling up cells to greater than 70 × 10⁶ cells/mL and freezing in bags with an optimized controlled rate freezing protocol and using a customized rack configuration. Flow cytometry analysis was also employed to understand the recovery of CHO cells following cryopreservation. Extensive development data were gathered to ensure that the quantity and quality of the drug manufactured using the FASTEC bioprocess scheme was acceptable compared to the conventional seed train process flow. The result of offering comparable manufacturing options offers flexibility to the cell culture manufacturing network. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 1376–1385. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

glypican-3 controls cellular responses to Bmp4 in limb patterning and skeletal development

Glypicans represent a family of six cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans in vertebrates. Although no specific in vivo functions have thus far been described for these proteoglycans, spontaneous mutations in the human and induced deletions in the mouse glypican-3 (Gpc3) gene result in severe malformations and both pre- and postnatal overgrowth, known clinically as the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS). Mice carrying mutant alleles of Gpc3 created by either targeted gene disruption or gene trapping display a wide range of phenotypes associated with SGBS including renal cystic dysplasia, ventral wall defects, and skeletal abnormalities that are consistent with the pattern of Gpc3 expression in the mouse embryo. Previous studies in Drosophila have implicated glypicans in the signaling of decapentaplegic, a BMP homolog. Our experiments with mice show a significant relationship between vertebrate BMP signaling and glypican function; GPC3-deficient animals were mated with mice haploinsufficient for bone morphogenetic protein-4 (Bmp4) and their offspring displayed a high penetrance of postaxial polydactyly and rib malformations not observed in either parent strain. This previously unknown link between glypican-3 and BMP4 function provides evidence of a role for glypicans in vertebrate limb patterning and skeletal development and suggests a mechanism for the skeletal defects seen in SGBS.     

Domain-specific modification of heparan sulfate by Qsulf1 modulates the binding of the bone morphogenetic protein antagonist Noggin

We have reported previously that Noggin is a heparin-binding protein and associates with the cell surface through heparan sulfate proteoglycans, where it remains functional for the binding of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). Here we report that the binding of Noggin to the cell surface is highly selective for heparan sulfate and that specific structural features are required for the interaction. Noggin binds most efficiently to heparin sequences composed of 10 or more monosaccharides; N-, 6-O-, and 2-O-sulfates contribute to this interaction. In addition, we have shown that the developmentally regulated endosulfatase Qsulf1 selectively removes sulfate groups from the 6-O position of sugars within the most highly sulfated S domains of heparan sulfate, whereas 6-O-sulfates in the NA/NS domains are not substrates for the enzyme. The activity of Qsulf1 in cells in culture results in the release of Noggin from the cell surface and a restoration of BMP responsiveness to the cells. This shows that Noggin binds to the S domains of heparan sulfate and provides evidence that, in addition to modulating Wnt signaling in vivo by the release of heparan sulfate bound Wnt, Qsulf1 also modulates BMP signaling by the release of surface-bound Noggin.     

Association of post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity in a nationally representative sample

Recent studies suggest a possible link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obesity risk, which would have implications for the development of obesity-related diseases in this population. The present study examined the association between PTSD and obesity and whether this association differed by sex in a representative sample of the US population. A secondary objective was to determine whether the association between PTSD and obesity was mediated by binge eating disorder (BED). Data were from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), which comprises three nationally representative cross-sectional surveys that were conducted between 2001 and 2003. Logistic regression analyses weighted to represent the general US adult population were performed. In the total sample of 20,013 participants, rates of obesity were 24.1% for persons without a lifetime history of PTSD and 32.6% among persons with PTSD in the past year. Adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, depression, substance and alcohol abuse/dependence, and psychotropic medication status, past year PTSD was associated with greater likelihood of obesity (odds ratio (OR) = 1.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.18, 1.95), with no differences by gender. BED did not statistically mediate the relationship between PTSD and obesity. The present study provides support for a link between PTSD and obesity. Findings further existing literature by indicating that the association is consistent across sexes and is not statistically mediated by BED.     

Prediction of Dengue Disease Severity among Pediatric Thai Patients Using Early Clinical Laboratory Indicators

Background

Dengue virus is endemic in tropical and sub-tropical resource-poor countries. Dengue illness can range from a nonspecific febrile illness to a severe disease, Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS), in which patients develop circulatory failure. Earlier diagnosis of severe dengue illnesses would have a substantial impact on the allocation of health resources in endemic countries.

Methods and Findings

We compared clinical laboratory findings collected within 72 hours of fever onset from a prospective cohort children presenting to one of two hospitals (one urban and one rural) in Thailand. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to develop diagnostic algorithms using different categories of dengue disease severity to distinguish between patients at elevated risk of developing a severe dengue illness and those at low risk. A diagnostic algorithm using WBC count, percent monocytes, platelet count, and hematocrit achieved 97% sensitivity to identify patients who went on to develop DSS while correctly excluding 48% of non-severe cases. Addition of an indicator of severe plasma leakage to the WHO definition led to 99% sensitivity using WBC count, percent neutrophils, AST, platelet count, and age.

Conclusions

This study identified two easily applicable diagnostic algorithms using early clinical indicators obtained within the first 72 hours of illness onset. The algorithms have high sensitivity to distinguish patients at elevated risk of developing severe dengue illness from patients at low risk, which included patients with mild dengue and other non-dengue febrile illnesses. Although these algorithms need to be validated in other populations, this study highlights the potential usefulness of specific clinical indicators early in illness.     

GPC6, a Novel Member of the Glypican Gene Family, Encodes a Product Structurally Related to GPC4 and Is Colocalized withGPC5on Human Chromosome 13

Glypicans are a family of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans that appear to play an important role in cellular growth control and differentiation, as is supported by the observation that mutations in GPC3 are responsible for Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS) in humans. Recently it has been shown that the GPC4 gene is tightly clustered with GPC3 on the X chromosome and that some patients with SGBS apparently have deletions affecting both genes. We report here the identification of a human cDNA encoding a novel glypican family member, glypican-6. This cDNA encodes a predicted protein of 554 amino acids and is structurally analogous to other members of the glypican gene family, but most highly related to glypican-4. A single GPC6 mRNA of 6.2 kb is detected most abundantly in the ovary, liver, and kidney, with lower levels of mRNA expression also detected in a wide range of other adult tissues. Radiation hybrid analysis mapped the GPC6 gene to human chromosome 13 very near the GPC5 gene, a member of the glypican family bearing strong similarity to GPC3.     

Altered hematopoiesis in glypican-3-deficient mice results in decreased osteoclast differentiation and a delay in endochondral ossification

Loss of function mutations in the gene encoding the heparan sulfate proteoglycan Glypican-3 (GPC3) causes an X-linked disorder in humans known as Simpson-Golabi-Behmel Syndrome (SGBS). This disorder includes both pre- and postnatal overgrowth, a predisposition to certain childhood cancers, and a complex assortment of congenital defects including skeletal abnormalities. In this study, we have identified a previously unrecognized delay in endochondral ossification associated with the loss of Gpc3 function. Gpc3 knockout animals show a marked reduction in calcified trabecular bone, and an abnormal persistence of hypertrophic chondrocytes at embryonic day 16.5 (E16.5). These hypertrophic chondrocytes down-regulate Type X collagen mRNA expression and undergo apoptosis, suggesting a normal progression of hypertrophic chondrocyte cell fate. However, replacement of these cells by mineralized bone is delayed in association with a marked delay in the appearance of osteoclasts in the bone in vivo. This delay in vivo correlates with a significant reduction in the capacity to form osteoclasts from bone marrow macrophage precursors in vitro in response to M-CSF and RANKL, and with a reduction in the numbers of bone-marrow-derived cells expressing the markers CD11b and Gr-1. Together, these results indicate selective impairment in the development of the common hematopoietic lineage from which monocyte/macrophages and PMNs are derived. This is the first report of a requirement for heparan sulfate, and specifically Gpc3, in the lineage-specific differentiation of these cell types in vivo.     

A MIQE-compliant real-time PCR assay for Aspergillus detection

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is widely used as a diagnostic tool in clinical laboratories and is particularly effective for detecting and identifying infectious agents for which routine culture and microscopy methods are inadequate. Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunosuppressed patients, and optimal diagnostic criteria are contentious. Although PCR-based methods have long been used for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA), variable performance in clinical practice has limited their value. This shortcoming is a consequence of differing sample selection, collection and preparation protocols coupled with a lack of standardisation of the PCR itself. Furthermore, it has become clear that the performance of PCR-based assays in general is compromised by the inadequacy of experimental controls, insufficient optimisation of assay performance as well as lack of transparency in reporting experimental details. The recently published "Minimum Information for the publication of real-time Quantitative PCR Experiments" (MIQE) guidelines provide a blueprint for good PCR assay design and unambiguous reporting of experimental detail and results. We report the first real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay targeting Aspergillus species that has been designed, optimised and validated in strict compliance with the MIQE guidelines. The hydrolysis probe-based assay, designed to target the 18S rRNA DNA sequence of Aspergillus species, has an efficiency of 100% (range 95-107%), a dynamic range of at least six orders of magnitude and limits of quantification and detection of 6 and 0.6 Aspergillus fumigatus genomes, respectively. It does not amplify Candida, Scedosporium, Fusarium or Rhizopus species and its clinical sensitivity is demonstrated in histological material from proven IA cases, as well as concordant PCR and galactomannan data in matched broncho-alveolar lavage and blood samples. The robustness, specificity and sensitivity of this assay make it an ideal molecular diagnostic tool for clinical use.