Phenolics removal from transgenic Lemna minor extracts expressing mAb and impact on mAb production cost

Transgenic Lemna minor has been used successfully to produce several biotherapeutic proteins. For plant-produced mAbs specifically, the cost of protein A capture step is critical as the economic benefits of plant production systems could be erased if the downstream processing ends up being expensive. To avoid potential modification of mAb or fouling of expensive protein A resins, a rapid and efficient removal of phenolics from plant extracts is desirable. We identified major phenolics in Lemna extracts and evaluated their removal by adsorption to PVPP, XAD-4, IRA-402, and Q-Sepharose. Forms of apigenin, ferulic acid, and vitexin comprised ～ 75% of the total phenolics. Screening of the resins with pure ferulic acid and vitexin indicated that PVPP would not be efficient for phenolics removal. Analysis of the breakthrough fractions of phenolics adsorption to XAD-4, IRA-402, and Q-Sepharose showed differences in adsorption with pH and in the type of phenolics adsorbed. Superior dynamic binding capacities (DBC) were observed at pH 4.5 than at 7.5. To evaluate the cost impact of a phenolics removal step before protein A chromatography, a mAb purification process was simulated using SuperPro Designer 7.0. The economic analysis indicated that addition of a phenolics adsorption step would increase mAb production cost only 20% by using IRA-402 compared to 35% for XAD-4 resin. The cost of the adsorption step is offset by increasing the lifespan of protein A resin and a reduction of overall mAb production cost could be achieved by using a phenolics removal step.     

Incidence of pituitary tumors in the human population of Croatia

Pituitary tumors are rare tumors (less then 10%) of the central nervous system (CNS), which malignicity depends on their localization, meanwhile, their biological nature is benign. The diameter they have is mostly less then 10 mm (microadenomas), but sometimes could be 10 mm (macroadenomas) to 5 cm and more and then are usually nonfunctional (about 20% of all pituitary tumors). Clinical presence depends on their localisation and hormonal activity. In the Center for Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Pituitary Diseases, in the last working 10 years, there were treated and examined 504 patients from Croatia, all with pituitary tumors: 182 patients with prolactinomas, 137 with acromegaly, 70 with Morbus Cushing (Mb. Cushing), and 115 patients with nonfunctional pituitary tumors. The patient's classification is based on regional (Mediterranean and continental region, 20 counties) and the state level. In our analysis we haven't found difference in incidence of tumors between Mediterranean and continental region.     

Recovery and purification of plant-made recombinant proteins

Plants are becoming commercially acceptable for recombinant protein production for human therapeutics, vaccine antigens, industrial enzymes, and nutraceuticals. Recently, significant advances in expression, protein glycosylation, and gene-to-product development time have been achieved. Safety and regulatory concerns for open-field production systems have also been addressed by using contained systems to grow transgenic plants. However, using contained systems eliminates several advantages of open-field production, such as inexpensive upstream production and scale-up costs. Upstream technological achievements have not been matched by downstream processing advancements. In the past 10 years, the most research progress was achieved in the areas of extraction and pretreatment. Extraction conditions have been optimized for numerous proteins on a case-by-case basis leading to the development of platform-dependent approaches. Pretreatment advances were made after realizing that plant extracts and homogenates have unique compositions that require distinct conditioning prior to purification. However, scientists have relied on purification methods developed for other protein production hosts with modest investments in developing novel plant purification tools. Recently, non-chromatographic purification methods, such as aqueous two-phase partitioning and membrane filtration, have been evaluated as low-cost purification alternatives to packed-bed adsorption. This paper reviews seed, leafy, and bioreactor-based platforms, highlights strategies for the primary recovery and purification of recombinant proteins, and compares process economics between systems. Lastly, the future direction and research needs for developing economically competitive recombinant proteins with commercial potential are discussed.     

Evaluation of alternatives for human lysozyme purification from transgenic rice: impact of phytic acid and buffer

Producing economically competitive recombinant human lysozyme from transgenic rice demands an inexpensive purification process for nonpharmaceutical applications. Human lysozyme is a basic protein, and thus, cation exchange chromatography was the selected method for lysozyme purification. Similar to other protein production systems, the identification of critical impurities in the rice extract was important for the development of an efficient purification process. Previous adsorption data indicated that phytic acid was probably responsible for an unacceptably low cation exchange adsorption capacity. In this study, we confirm that reducing phytic acid concentration improves lysozyme binding capacity and investigate alternative process conditions that reduce phytic acid interference. Compared with the previous best process, the adsorption capacity of human lysozyme was increased from 8.6 to 19.7 mg/mL when rice extract was treated with phytase to degrade phytic acid. Using tris buffer to adjust pH 4.5 extract to pH 6 before adsorption reduced phytic acid interference by minimizing phytic acid-lysozyme interactions, eliminated the need for phytase treatment, and increased the binding capacity to 25 mg/mL. Another method of reducing phytic acid concentration was to extract human lysozyme from rice flour at pH 10 with 50 mM NaCl in 50 mM sodium carbonate buffer. A similar binding capacity (25.5 mg/mL) was achieved from pH 10 extract that was clarified by acidic precipitation and adjusted to pH 6 for adsorption. Lysozyme purities ranged from 95 to 98% for all three processing methods. The tris-mediated purification was the most efficient of the alternatives considered.     

Commercial production of β-glucuronidase (GUS): a model system for the production of proteins in plants

We have generated transgenic maize seed containing -glucuronidase(GUS) for commercial production. While many other investigators have demonstrated the expression of GUS as a scoreable marker, this is one of the first cases where a detailed characterization of the transgenic plants and the protein were performed which are necessary to use this as a commercial source of GUS. The recombinant -glucuronidase was expressed at levels up to 0.7% of water-soluble protein from populations of dry seed, representing one of the highest levels of heterologous proteins reported for maize. Southern blot analysis revealed that one copy of the gene was present in the transformant with the highest level of expression. In seeds, the majority of recombinant protein was present in the embryo, and subcellular localization indicated that the protein was dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. The purified recombinant -glucuronidase (GUS) was compared to native -glucuronidase using SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis. The molecular mass of both the recombinant and native enzymes was 68 000 Da. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the recombinant protein was similar to the sequence predicted from the cloned Escherichia coli gene except that the initial methionine was cleaved from the recombinant GUS. The recombinant and native GUS proteins had isoelectric points (pI) from 4.8 to 5.0. The purified proteins were stable for 30 min at 25, 37, and 50 ° C. Kinetic analysis of the recombinant and native GUS enzymes using 4-methylumbelliferyl glucuronide (MUG) as the substrate was performed. Scatchard analysis of these data demonstrated that the recombinant enzyme had a K_m of 0.20 mM and a V_max of 0.29 mM MUG per hour, and the native enzyme had a K_m and V_max of 0.21 mM and 0.22 mM/h respectively. Using D-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone, which is an inhibitor of -glucuronidase, the K_i of the native and recombinant enzymes was determined to be 0.13 mM. Thus, these data demonstrate that recombinant GUS is functionally equivalent to native GUS. We have demonstrated the expression of high levels of GUS can be maintained in stable germlines and have used an efficient recovery system where the final protein product, GUS, has been successfully purified. We describe one of the first model systems for the commercial production of a foreign protein which relies on plants as the bioreactor.     

Considerations for the recovery of recombinant proteins from plants

The past 5 years have seen the commercialization of two recombinant protein products from transgenic plants, and many recombinant therapeutic proteins produced in plants are currently undergoing development. The emergence of plants as an alternative production host has brought new challenges and opportunities to downstream processing efforts. Plant hosts contain a unique set of matrix contaminants (proteins, oils, phenolic compounds, etc.) that must be removed during purification of the target protein. Furthermore, plant solids, which require early removal after extraction, are generally in higher concentration, wider in size range, and denser than traditional bacterial and mammalian cell culture debris. At the same time, there remains the desire to incorporate highly selective and integrative separation technologies (those capable of performing multiple tasks) during the purification process from plant material. The general plant processing and purification scheme consists of isolation of the plant tissue containing the recombinant protein, fractionation of the tissue along with particle size reduction, extraction of the target protein into an aqueous medium, clarification of the crude extract, and finally purification of the product. Each of these areas will be discussed here, focusing on what has been learned and where potential concerns remain. We also present details of how the choice of plant host, along with location within the plant for targeting the recombinant protein, can play an important role in the ultimate ease of recovery and the emergence of regulations governing plant hosts. Major emphasis is placed on three crops, canola, corn, and soy, with brief discussions of tobacco and rice.     

Development of an edible subunit vaccine in corn against enterotoxigenic strains of escherichia coli

Summary Advances in the development of subunit vaccines and in the production of foreign proteins in plants together offer the prospect of stable and inexpensive vaccine delivery systems. Various bacterial and viral proteins stably produced in plants have been shown to elicit immune responses in feeding trials. We have extended this approach by using Zea mays as the plant production system. Corn has several advantages as a vaccine delivery vehicle, most notably established technologies to generate transgenic plants, to optimize traits through breeding and to process the seed into a palatable form. Here we report on the production in corn seed of the GM₁ receptor binding (B) subunit of the heat-labile toxin (Lt) from enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli. Versions of the Lt-B gene were synthesized to give optimum codon usage for corn and to target the protein to either the cell surface or the cytoplasm. These synthetic genes were fused to a strong promoter and transformed into corn. Lt-B was highly expressed in corn seed at up to 1.8% of the total soluble protein and this was further increased approximately five-fold through plant breeding. As in E. coli. Lt-B produced in corn forms a functional pentamer that can bind to the GM₁ receptor. Furthermore, Lt-B pentamer stored in corn seed is much more resistant to heat than is the pure protein, allowing the transgenic corn to be readily processed into an edible form. This work demonstrates the potential of using products derived from transgenic corn seed as delivery vehicles for subunit vaccines.     

Factors influencing recombinant human lysozyme extraction and cation exchange adsorption

Human lysozyme has numerous potential therapeutic applications to a broad spectrum of human diseases. This glycosidic enzyme is present in tears, saliva, nasal secretions, and milk--sources not amendable for commercial development. Recently, a high expression level of recombinant human lysozyme (0.5% dry weight) was achieved in transgenic rice seed. This paper evaluates the effects of pH and ionic strength on rice protein and lysozyme extractability, as well as their interactions with the strong cation-exchange resin, SP-Sepharose FF. The extraction conditions that maximized lysozyme yield and the ratio of extracted human lysozyme to native rice protein were not optimal for lysozyme adsorption. The conditions that gave the highest extracted lysozyme to native protein ratio were pH 4.5 and 100 mM NaCl in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer. At pH 4.5, salt concentrations above 100 mM NaCl reduced the lysozyme-to-protein ratio. The best conditions for lysozyme adsorption were pH 4.5 and 50 mM sodium acetate buffer. Lysozyme extraction and subsequent adsorption at pH 4.5 and 50 mM NaCl was an acceptable compromise between lysozyme extractability, adsorption, and purity. The primary recovery of human lysozyme from pH 6 extracts, irrespective of ionic strength, was inferior to that using pH 4.5 with unacceptably low saturation capacities and lysozyme purity. High purity was achieved with a single chromatography step by adjusting the pH 4.5 extract to pH 6 before adsorption. The disadvantage of this approach was the drastically lower saturation capacity compared to adsorption at pH 4.5.     

Downstream processing of recombinant proteins from transgenic feedstock

The search for inexpensive production systems capable of producing large quantities of recombinant protein has resulted in the development of new technology platforms based on transgenic plants and animals. Over the past decade, these transgenic systems have been used to produce several products and potential therapeutic proteins. Improvements continue to be made, not only in how the proteins are expressed but also in how the end products are obtained. As improvements in expression are realized, cost-saving measures will increasingly focus on downstream processing.     

Process development and economic evaluation of recombinant human lactoferrin expressed in rice grain

In this paper, we show that recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLF) has been stably expressed at 0.5% brown rice flour weight for nine generations. Process development indicates that rhLF can be efficiently extracted from rice flour in 20 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing up to 0.5 M NaCl and at a ratio of 1 kg flour to 10 L buffer. After solid/liquid separation, the extract can then be loaded directly onto an ion-exchange column and rhLF can be eluted using 0.8 M NaCl. The resulting rhLF is about 95 pure. A range of biochemical and biophysical analyses were carried out and results indicated that the purified rhLF was identical to its native human counterpart other than its glycosylation. Economic analysis shows that at 600 kg/year scale, the cash cost to produce 1 g of rhLF of pharmaceutical grade is US$ 5.90. Analysis also indicates that the expression level has profound impact on costs related to planting, milling, extraction and purification, thus high level expression of recombinant protein in plants is one of the key parameters for the success of plant made pharmaceuticals.