Optimizing the transient transfection process of HEK-293 suspension cells for protein production by nucleotide ratio monitoring

Large scale, transient gene expression (TGE) is highly dependent of the physiological status of a cell line. Therefore, intracellular nucleotide pools and ratios were used for identifying and monitoring the optimal status of a suspension cell line used for TGE. The transfection efficiency upon polyethyleneimine (PEI)-mediated transient gene delivery into HEK-293 cells cultured in suspension was investigated to understand the effect of different culture and transfection conditions as well as the significance of the culture age and the quality of the cell line used. Based on two different bicistronic model plasmids expressing the human erythropoietin gene (rHuEPO) in the first position and green fluorescent protein as reporter gene in the second position and vice versa, a completely serum-free transient transfection process was established. The process makes use of a 1:1 mixture of a special calcium-free DMEM and the FreeStyle™ 293 Expression Medium. Maximum transfectability was achieved by adjusting the ratio for complex formation to one mass part of DNA and three parts of PEI corresponding to an N/P (nitrogen residues/DNA phosphates) ratio of 23 representing a minimum amount of DNA for the polycation-mediated gene delivery. Applying this method, maximum transfectabilities between 70 and 96 % and a rHuEPO concentration of 1.6 μg mL⁻¹ 72 h post transfection were reached, when rHuEPO gene was expressed from the first position of the bicistronic mRNA. This corresponded to 10 % of the total protein concentration in the cell-free supernatant of the cultures in protein-free medium. Up to 30 % higher transfectabilities were found for cells of early passages compared to those from late passages under protein-free culture conditions. In contrast, when the same cells were propagated in serum-containing medium, higher transfectabilities were found for late-passage cells, while up to 40 % lower transfectabilities were observed for early-passage cells. Nucleotide pools were measured during all cell cultivations and the nucleoside triphosphate/uridine ratios were calculated. These ‘nucleotide ratios’ changed in an age-dependent manner and could be used to distinguish early- from late-passage cells. The observed effects were also dependent on the presence of serum in the culture. Nucleotide ratios were shown being applied to investigate the optimal passage number of cultured cell lines for achieving a maximum productivity in cultures used for transient gene expression. Furthermore, these nucleotide ratios proved to be different for transfected and untransfected cells, providing a high potential tool to monitor the status of transfection under various culture conditions.     

Genetic characterization of CHO production host DG44 and derivative recombinant cell lines

The dihydrofolate reductase-deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line DG44 is the dominant mammalian host for recombinant protein manufacturing, in large part because of the availability of a well-characterized genetic selection and amplification system. However, this cell line has not been studied at the cytogenetic level. Here, the first detailed karyotype analysis of DG44 and several recombinant derivative cell lines is described. In contrast to the 22 chromosomes in diploid Chinese hamster cells, DG44 has 20 chromosomes, only seven of which are normal. In addition, four Z group chromosomes, seven derivative chromosomes, and 2 marker chromosomes were identified. For all but one of the 16 DG44-derived recombinant cell lines analyzed, a single integration site was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization regardless of the gene delivery method (calcium phosphate-DNA coprecipitation or microinjection), the topology of the DNA (circular or linear), or the integrated plasmid copy number (between 1 and 51). Chromosomal aberrations, observed in more than half of the cell lines studied, were mostly unbalanced with examples of aneuploidy, deletions, and complex rearrangements. The results demonstrate that chromosomal aberrations are frequently associated with the establishment of recombinant CHO DG44 cell lines. Noteworthy, there was no direct correlation between the stability of the genome and the stability of recombinant protein expression.     

Comparative characterization of growth and recombinant protein production among three insect cell lines with four kinds of serum free media

Three insect cell lines, Sf9, Sf21 and Tn5B1-4, and four different kinds of serum free media (SFM), Sf 900 II, EX-CELL 420, EX-CELL 405 and Express Five, were used to compare the nutrient consumption, byproduct formation, production of recombinant protein and protease activity in suspension cultures. The Sf 900 II SFM was appropriate for the cell growth and protein production of the Sf9 and Sf21 cell lines. When the Tn5B1-4 cell line was grown in the Express Five SFM, the specific growth rate was 1.6 fold higher than those of either the Sf9 or Sf21 cell lines. The glucose and glutamine consumption rates per cells, were 4 and 2.3. times higher than those of the Sf9 cell line, respectively. The overall yield coefficients of the lactate and ammonium ion were 2.8 and 1.5 times higher compared to those of the Sf9 cell line, respectively. The maximum specific β-galactosidase production rate was 4.5. fold that of the Sf9 cell line, a 3 times higher protease activity per cell.     

Engineering CHO cell growth and recombinant protein productivity by overexpression of miR-7

The efficient production of recombinant proteins by Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells in modern bioprocesses is often augmented by the use of proliferation control strategies. The most common method is to shift the culture temperature from 37 °C to 28-33 °C though genetic approaches to achieving the same effect are also of interest. In this work we used qRT-PCR-based expression profiling using TLDA™ cards to identify miRNAs displaying differential expression 24 h after temperature-shift (TS) from 37 °C to 31 °C. Six miRNAs were found to be significantly up-regulated (mir-219, mir-518d, mir-126, mir-30e, mir-489 and mir-345) and four down-regulated (mir-7, mir-320, mir-101 and mir-199). Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis of miR-7 expression over a 6 day batch culture, with and without TS, demonstrated decreased expression over time in both cultures but to a significantly greater extent in cells shifted to a lower culture temperature. Unexpectedly, when miR-7 levels were increased transiently by transfection with miR-7 mimic in CHO-K1 cells, cell proliferation at 37 °C was effectively blocked over a 96 h culture period. On the other hand, transient inhibition of endogenous miR-7 levels using antagonists had no impact on cell growth. The exogenous overexpression of miR-7 also resulted in increased normalised (per cell) production at 37 °C, though the yield was lower than cells grown at reduced temperature. This is the first report demonstrating a functional impact of specific miRNA disregulation on CHO cell behavior in batch culture and provides some evidence of the potential which these molecules may have in terms of engineering targets in CHO production clones. Finally, we report the cloning and sequencing of the hamster-specific cgr-miR-7.     

Stable and high-level production of recombinant Factor IX in human hepatic cell line

Hemophilia B is a genetic disease of the coagulation system that affects one in 30,000 males worldwide. Recombinant human Factor IX (rhFIX) has been used for hemophilia B treatment, but the amount of active protein generated by these systems is inefficient, resulting in a high-cost production of rhFIX. In this study, we developed an alternative for rhFIX production. We used a retrovirus system to obtain two recombinant cell lines. We first tested rhFIX production in the human embryonic kidney 293 cells (293). Next, we tested a hepatic cell line (HepG2) because FIX is primarily expressed in the liver. Our results reveal that intracellular rhFIX expression was more efficient in HepG2/rhFIX (46%) than in 293/rhFIX (21%). The activated partial thromboplastin time test showed that HepG2/rhFIX expressed biologically active rhFIX 1.5 times higher than 293/rhFIX (P = 0.016). Recovery of rhFIX from the HepG2 by reversed-phase chromatography was straightforward. We found that rhFIX has a pharmacokinetic profile similar to that of FIX purified from human plasma when tested in hemophilic B model. HepG2/rhFIX cell line produced the highest levels of rhFIX, representing an efficient in vitro expression system. This work opens up the possibility of significantly reducing the costs of rhFIX production, with implications for expanding hemophilia B treatment in developing countries.     

Optimization of HEK-293S cell cultures for the production of adenoviral vectors in bioreactors using on-line OUR measurements

The culture of HEK-293S cells in a stirred tank bioreactor for adenoviral vectors production for gene therapy is studied. Process monitoring using oxygen uptake rate (OUR) was performed. The OUR was determined on-line by the dynamic method, providing good information of the process evolution. OUR enabled cell activity monitoring, facilitating as well the determination of the feeding rate in perfusion cultures and when to infect the culture. Batch cultures were used to validate the monitoring methodology. A cell density of 10 × 10⁵ cell/mL was infected, producing 1.3 × 10⁹ infectious viral particles/mL (IVP/mL).To increase cell density values maintaining cell specific productivity, perfusion cultures, based on tangential flow filtration, were studied. In this case, OUR measurements were used to optimize the dynamic culture medium feeding strategy, addressed to avoid any potential nutrient limitation. Furthermore, the infection protocol was defined in order to optimize the use of the viral inoculum, minimizing the uncontrolled release of particles through the filter unit mesh. All these developments enabled an infection at 78 × 10⁵ cell/mL with the consequent production of 44 × 10⁹ IVP/mL, representing a cell specific productivity 4.3 times higher than for the batch culture.     

Strategies for selecting recombinant CHO cell lines for cGMP manufacturing: Improving the efficiency of cell line generation

Transfectants with a wide range of cellular phenotypes are obtained during the process of cell line generation. For the successful manufacture of a therapeutic protein, a means is required to identify a cell line with desirable growth and productivity characteristics from this phenotypically wide‐ranging transfectant population. This identification process is on the critical path for first‐in‐human studies. We have stringently examined a typical selection strategy used to isolate cell lines suitable for cGMP manufacturing. One‐hundred and seventy‐five transfectants were evaluated as they progressed through the different assessment stages of the selection strategy. High producing cell lines, suitable for cGMP manufacturing, were identified. However, our analyses showed that the frequency of isolation of the highest producing cell lines was low and that ranking positions were not consistent between each assessment stage, suggesting that there is potential to improve upon the strategy. Attempts to increase the frequency of isolation of the 10 highest producing cell lines, by in silico analysis of alternative selection strategies, were unsuccessful. We identified alternative strategies with similar predictive capabilities to the typical selection strategy. One alternate strategy required fewer cell lines to be progressed at the assessment stages but the stochastic nature of the models means that cell line numbers are likely to change between programs. In summary, our studies illuminate the potential for improvement to this and future selection strategies, based around use of assessments that are more informative or that reduce variance, paving the way to improved efficiency of generation of manufacturing cell lines. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

Recombinant protein production by large-scale transient gene expression in mammalian cells: state of the art and future perspectives

The expansion of the biologics pipeline depends on the identification of candidate proteins for clinical trials. Speed is one of the critical issues, and the rapid production of high quality, research-grade material for preclinical studies by transient gene expression (TGE) is addressing this factor in an impressive way: following DNA transfection, the production phase for TGE is usually 2-10 days. Recombinant proteins (r-proteins) produced by TGE can therefore enter the drug development and screening process in a very short time--weeks. With "classical" approaches to protein expression from mammalian cells, it takes months to establish a productive host cell line. This article summarizes efforts in industry and academia to use TGE to produce tens to hundreds of milligrams of r-proteins for either fundamental research or preclinical studies.     

重组CHO细胞C_(28)株S基因序列的测定及分析

目的测定重组CHO细胞C28株S基因序列,研究其遗传稳定性,并与已全基因序列测定的乙型肝炎病毒的S基因序列进行比较分析,预测和揭示现有疫苗株对当前疾病流行株的防病效果。方法从C28株中选取第22代、24代2、5代2、7代、28代2、9代3、0代、31代3、2代3、3代和34代细胞,根据GenBank中C基因型adr亚型乙型肝炎病毒的全基因序列设计引物。采用酚-氯仿法抽提CHO细胞基因组DNA,用PCR法扩增各代次细胞的S基因,回收700 bp左右的目的片段,克隆至pMD18-T载体上进行序列测定。利用生物学软件MEGA4.1和BioEdit进行S基因序列同源性分析,绘制系统进化树,分析与其他HBV病毒株S基因的同源性。应用实验动物测定C28株生产的重组乙型肝炎疫苗的效价。结果 C28株十一个代次之间S基因序列核苷酸和氨基酸同源性均为100%;C28株十一个代次S基因与其他病毒株S基因比较,与C基因型乙型肝炎病毒同源性最高,与其他基因型乙型肝炎病毒的核苷酸同源性达91.4%～95.1%,氨基酸同源性达84.5%～93.3%。免疫NIH小鼠结果显示5批重组乙型肝炎疫苗的效价均符合标准。结论 C28株S基因在传代及保存过程中具有较高的稳定性,对当前疾病流行株有较好的防病效果。     

Expression of bacterial hemoglobin genes to improve astaxanthin production in a methanotrophic bacterium Methylomonas sp

Astaxanthin has been widely used as a feed supplement in poultry and aquaculture industries. One challenge for astaxanthin production in bacteria is the low percentage of astaxanthin in the total carotenoids. An obligate methanotrophic bacterium Methylomonas sp. 16a was engineered to produce astaxanthin. Astaxanthin production appeared to be dramatically affected by oxygen availability. We examined whether astaxanthin production in Methylomonas could be improved by metabolic engineering through expression of bacterial hemoglobins. Three hemoglobin genes were identified in the genome of Methylomonas sp. 16a. Two of them, thbN1 and thbN2, belong to the family of group I truncated hemoglobins. The third one, thbO, belongs to the group II truncated hemoglobins. Heterologous expression of the truncated hemoglobins in Escherichia coli improved cell growth under microaerobic conditions by increasing final cell densities. Co-expression of the hemoglobin genes along with the crtWZ genes encoding astaxanthin synthesis enzymes in Methylomonas showed higher astaxanthin production than expression of the crtWZ genes alone on multicopy plasmids. The hemoglobins likely improved the activity of the oxygen-requiring CrtWZ enzymes for astaxanthin conversion. A plasmid-free production strain was constructed by integrating the thbN1–crtWZ cassette into the chromosome of an astaxanthin-producing Methylomonas strain. It showed higher astaxanthin production than the parent strain.     

Kinetics of cell growth and heterologous glucoamylase production in recombinant Aspergillus nidulans

In the work, a study of cell growth and the regulation of heterologous glucoamylase synthesis under the control of the positively regulated alcA promoter in a recombinant Aspergillus nidulans is presented. We found that similar growth rates were obtained for both the host and recombinant cells when either glucose or fructose was employed as sole carbon and energy source. Use of the potent inducer cyclopentanone in concentrations greater than 3 mM resulted n maximum glucoamylase concentration and maximum overall specific glucoamylase concentration over 80 h of batch cultivation. However, cyclopentanone concentrations in excess of 3 mM also showed an inhibitory effect on spore germination as well as fungal growth. In contrast, another inducer, threonine, had no negative effect on spore germination even when concentrations of up to 100 mM were used with either glucose or fructose as carbon source. Glucoamylase synthesis in the presence of glucose plus either inducer did not begin until glucose was totally depleted, suggesting strong catabolite repression. Similar results were obtained when fructose was employed, although low levels of glucoamylase were detected before fructose depletion, suggesting partial catabolite repression. The highest enzyme concentration (570 mg/L) and overall specific enzyme concentration (81 mg/g cell) were observed in batch culture when cyclopentanone was the inducer and fructose the primary carbon source. A maximum glucoamylase concentration of 1.1 g/L and an overall specific glucoamylase concentration of 167 mg/g cell were obtained in a bioreactor using cyclopentanone as the inducer and limited-fructose feeding strategy, which nearly doubles the glucoamylase productivity from batch cultures. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ancestral and recombinant 16-locus HLA haplotypes in the Hutterites

 Prior studies in the Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota have demonstrated associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype matching and fetal loss (Ober et al. 1992) and mate preferences (Ober et al. 1997), as well as deficiencies of homozygotes for HLA haplotypes (Kostyu et al. 1993). These studies were based on the serologically-defined five-locus HLA-A, -C, -B, -DR, -DQ haplotype. To further elucidate the effects of specific major histocompatibility (MHC) loci or regions on fetal loss and mate choice, we genotyped a sample of Hutterites for 14 MHC loci by DNA or biochemical methods. Typing for additional loci in the HLA-A to HLA-DPB1 region increased the number of recognized Hutterite MHC haplotypes to 67, and further localized the site of cross-over in 9 of 15 recombinant haplotypes. Hutterite MHC haplotype sequences are similar to those observed in outbred Caucasians, suggesting that the influence of HLA haplotypes on fetal loss and mating structure may be general. Received: 1 May 1998 / Revised: 2 December 1998     

Genotypic variation and chromosomal location of QTLs for somatic embryogenesis revealed by epidermal layers culture of recombinant inbred lines in the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

The present study was conducted to identify the genetic factors controlling somatic embryogenesis in the sunflower. Two traits, the number of embryogenic explants per 40 explants plated (EE/40 E) and the number of embryos per 40 explants (E/40 E), were scored in 74 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from a cross between ’PAC-2’ and ’RHA-266’. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block with 76 genotypes (74 recombinant inbred lines and two parents) and three replications. Each replication consisted of three Erlenmeyer flasks with 40 epidermal layers (explants). Analyses of variance indicated the existence of highly significant differences among parental genotypes and their RILs. Heritabilities for the somatic embryogenesis traits studied, EE/40 E and E/40 E, were high (0.64 and 0.77 respectively) and the genetic gain, in percentage of the best parent for 10% of selected RILs, was significant. Four QTLs for EE/40 E (tee) and seven for E/40 E (ete) were detected using composite interval mapping and AFLP mapping. The QTLs for EE/40 E explained 48% of the phenotypic variation while the QTLs for E/40 E explained about 89% of the variation. Received:14 December 1999 / Accepted:18 May 2000     

Integrated bioprocess for the production and purification of recombinant proteins by affinity chromatography in Escherichia coli

In order to improve the effectiveness of the production of recombinant proteins in E. coli, integrated fermentation processes were developed. Therefore, expression vectors were constructed containing a strongly expressed gene for a β-glucanase fused with a metal-chelating affinity tag and a leader peptide for directing the fusion protein into the periplasmic space. Its export into the medium was achieved by means of co-expression of a bacteriocin-release protein, the Kil protein from pColE1. Bioreactors were modified so that special devices containing metal chelate pentadentate chelator PDC resins were located within the bioreactor. Using the bioreactor with an internal device the Zn²⁺-PDC had a 4.3-fold higher binding capacity than metal-free PDC (12.3 and 2.6 kU ml⁻¹ PDC, respectively. Using the bioreactor with charged PDC in an external circuit revealed even higher β-glucanase concentration (65.6 kU ml⁻¹), i.e. 1.5-fold compared to the internal adsorbent system. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Effects of glutamine and asparagine on recombinant antibody production using CHO‐GS cell lines

A unique and nontraditional approach using glutamine and asparagine supplements for CHO‐glutamine synthetase (GS) cell lines was studied. In our experiments, we found that a decrease in pH and an increase in cell death occurred in production phase of a GS cell line, leading to reduced antibody expression and lower antibody yields. The experimental results and the statistical analysis (ANOVA) indicated that additions of glutamine and asparagine in the basal and feed media were effective to buffer the cell culture pH, reduce lactate generation, maintain a higher cell viability profile, and improve antibody productivity. In bench‐top bioreactors, glutamine and asparagine supplementation helped to prevent cell death, improve antibody yield, and reduce base usage. Glutamine is normally excluded from culture media for GS cell lines to prevent the bypass of selection pressure. In this study, however, the addition of glutamine did not affect cell population homogeneity, protein quality, or decrease antibody yield of two GS cell lines. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:1457–1468, 2014     

Morphological changes of the ovary and hormonal changes through the ovarian cycle of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

Laparoscopic observations of morphological changes of the ovary during the ovarian cycle in conjunction with radioimmunoassay of serum progesterone and estradiol-17β was investigated as a method of monitoring the ovarian cycle in the common marmoset. In the common marmoset, plural follicles first appeared in each ovary five days prior to ovulation. At three to four days prior to ovulation one or two follicles developed into translucent blisters on the surface of the ovary. As the follicles filled with follicular fluid, they became larger and clearer until one to two days prior to ovulation, at which time they formed well defined, transparent bubbles protruding from the surface of the ovary. After ovulation, the ovulation point could be detected at the center of the follicle, sometimes surrounded by a corpus of engorged blood vessels. Ovulations of the plural follicles were not simultaneous, and due to the time lag ovulations took at least 12 to 20 hrs in four out of seven animals examined. After two to five days of ovulation the corpus hemorragicum, a bright red protrusion made of tissue and blood disrupted by ovulation, was found. Subsequently, the color of the formatted corpus luteum changed from dark-red to yellow then to yellow white. While the corpus luteum remained reddish in color serum progesterone was maintained at as high levels as in the luteal phase. There was no mature follicle or corpus luteum in subordinate female ovaries.     

Detailed study of the different taurine uptake systems of colon LoVo MDR and non-MDR cell lines

Summary. In human, physiological taurine requirement is partly dependent on nutrition. Study of the human carcinoma LoVo cells shows the presence of a high and a low affinity taurine uptake. Besides them, a diffusion system has been found. A detailed analysis of the properties of the three systems is presented. A comparison of LoVo chemosensitive cells, and LoVo chemoresistant (MDR) cells which overexpress the multidrug transporter P-glycoprotein, shows that the only difference between the two cell types belong to the kinetic properties of the high and low affinity taurine uptake systems. Received May 19, 1999/Accepted August 16, 1999