Establishment of FUT8 knockout Chinese hamster ovary cells: an ideal host cell line for producing completely defucosylated antibodies with enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

To generate industrially applicable new host cell lines for antibody production with optimizing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) we disrupted both FUT8 alleles in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)/DG44 cell line by sequential homologous recombination. FUT8 encodes an alpha-1,6-fucosyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of fucose from GDP-fucose to N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) in an alpha-1,6 linkage. FUT8(-/-) cell lines have morphology and growth kinetics similar to those of the parent, and produce completely defucosylated recombinant antibodies. FUT8(-/-)-produced chimeric anti-CD20 IgG1 shows the same level of antigen-binding activity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) as the FUT8(+/+)-produced, comparable antibody, Rituxan. In contrast, FUT8(-/-)-produced anti-CD20 IgG1 strongly binds to human Fcgamma-receptor IIIa (FcgammaRIIIa) and dramatically enhances ADCC to approximately 100-fold that of Rituxan. Our results demonstrate that FUT8(-/-) cells are ideal host cell lines to stably produce completely defucosylated high-ADCC antibodies with fixed quality and efficacy for therapeutic use.     

Comparison of biological activity among nonfucosylated therapeutic IgG1 antibodies with three different N-linked Fc oligosaccharides: the high-mannose, hybrid, and complex types

The structure of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides attached to the antibody constant region (Fc) of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) has been shown to affect the pharmacokinetics and antibody effector functions of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). However, it is still unclear how differences in the N-linked oligosaccharide structures impact the biological activities of antibodies, especially those lacking core fucose. Here, we succeeded in generating core fucose-lacking human IgG1 antibodies with three different N-linked Fc oligosaccharides, namely, a high-mannose, hybrid, and complex type, using the same producing clone, and compared their activities. Cultivation of an alpha-1,6-fucosyltransferase (FUT8) knockout Chinese hamster ovary cell line in the presence or absence of a glycosidase inhibitor (either swainsonine or kifunensine) yielded antibody production of each of the three types without contamination by the others. Two of three types of nonnaturally occurring atypical oligosaccharide IgG1, except the complex type, reduced the affinity for both human lymphocyte receptor IIIa (FcgammaRIIIa) and the C1q component of the complement, resulting in reduction of ADCC and CDC. The bulky structure of the nonreducing end of N-linked Fc oligosaccharides is considered to contribute the CDC change, whereas the structural change in the reducing end, i.e. the removal of core fucose, causes ADCC enhancement through improved FcgammaRIIIa binding. In the pharmacokinetic profile, although no significant difference of human neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-binding affinity was observed among the three types, the complex type showed longer serum half-lives than the other types irrespective of core fucosylation in mice, which also suggests the contribution of the nonreducing end structure. The present study provides basic information on the effects of core fucose-lacking N-linked Fc oligosaccharides on antibody biological activities.     

Structural comparison of fucosylated and nonfucosylated Fc fragments of human immunoglobulin G1

Removal of the fucose residue from the oligosaccharides attached to Asn297 of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) results in a significant enhancement of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) via improved IgG1 binding to Fcgamma receptor IIIa. To provide structural insight into the mechanisms of affinity enhancement, we determined the crystal structure of the nonfucosylated Fc fragment and compared it with that of fucosylated Fc. The overall conformations of the fucosylated and nonfucosylated Fc fragments were similar except for hydration mode around Tyr296. Stable-isotope-assisted NMR analyses confirmed the similarity of the overall structures between fucosylated and nonfucosylated Fc fragments in solution. These data suggest that the glycoform-dependent ADCC enhancement is attributed to a subtle conformational alteration in a limited region of IgG1-Fc. Furthermore, the electron density maps revealed that the traces between Asp280 and Asn297 of our fucosylated and nonfucosylated Fc crystals were both different from that in previously reported isomorphous Fc crystals.     

Modulation of in vivo IgG crystallization in the secretory pathway by heavy chain isotype class switching and N-linked glycosylation

Crystalline bodies (CBs) can develop in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of antibody-producing cells. Although this phenotype is often reported in association with plasma cell dyscrasias and other hematological disorders, the details of CB biogenesis and CB's roles in pathophysiology remain poorly understood. Using an imaging-based screening method, we identified a secretion-competent human IgG2/λ clone that develops spindle-shaped intracellular crystals in transiently-transfected HEK293 cells upon Brefeldin A treatment. When stably overexpressed from CHO cells, the IgG2/λ clone spontaneously produced spindle-shaped CBs in the ER. Some CBs were released to the extracellular space while remaining enclosed by the membranes of secretory pathway origin. Structural modeling on the variable-region did not uncover prominent surface characteristics such as charge clusters. In contrast, alterations to the constant domain-encoded properties revealed their modulatory roles in CB-inducing propensities and CB morphology. For example, deletion of the entire Fc domain changed the morphology of CBs into thin filaments. Elimination of an N-linked glycan by a N297A mutation promoted Russell body biogenesis accompanied by marked reduction in IgG secretion. Isotype class switching from the original IgG2 to IgG1 and IgG4 changed the crystal morphology from spindle-shaped to long needle and acicular shaped, respectively. The IgG3 version, in contrast, suppressed the CB formation. Either the HC or LC alone or the Fc-domain alone did not trigger CB biogenesis. An IgG's in vivo crystal morphology and crystallization propensity can thus be modulated by the properties genetically and biochemically encoded in the HC constant region.     

Addressing the use of PDIF-CN2 molecules in the development of n-type organic field-effect transistors for biosensing applications

Background

There is no doubt that future discoveries in the field of biochemistry will depend on the implementation of novel biosensing techniques, able to record biophysiological events with minimal biological interference. In this respect, organic electronics may represent an important new tool for the analysis of structures ranging from single molecules up to cellular events. Specifically, organic field-effect transistors (OFET) are potentially powerful devices for the real-time detection/transduction of bio-signals. Despite this interest, up to date, the experimental data useful to support the development of OFET-based biosensors are still few and, in particular, n-type (electron-transporting) devices, being fundamental to develop highly-performing circuits, have been scarcely investigated.

Methods

Here, films of N,N′-1H,1H-perfluorobutyldicyanoperylene-carboxydi-imide (PDIF-CN₂) molecules, a recently-introduced and very promising n-type semiconductor, have been evaporated on glass and silicon dioxide substrates to test the biocompatibility of this compound and its capability to stay electrically-active even in liquid environments.

Results

We found that PDIF-CN₂ transistors can work steadily in water for several hours. Biocompatibility tests, based on in-vitro cell cultivation, remark the need to functionalize the PDIF-CN₂ hydrophobic surface by extra-coating layers (i.e. poly-l-lysine) to favor the growth of confluent cellular populations.

Conclusions

Our experimental data demonstrate that PDIF-CN₂ compound is an interesting organic semiconductor to develop electronic devices to be used in the biological field.

General significance

This work contributes to define a possible strategy for the fabrication of low-cost and flexible biosensors, based on complex organic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry including both p- (hole-transporting) and n-type transistors. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Organic Bioelectronics—Novel Applications in Biomedicine.     

Mutagenicity testing in mammalian cells: I. Derivation of a chinese hamster ovary cell line heterozygous for the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase and thymidine kinase loci

As a first step in the development of a multiple-marker, mammalian cell mutagenesis assay system, we have isolated a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line that is heterozygous for both the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (aprt) and thymidine kinase (tk) loci. Presumptive aprt^+/? heterozygotes with intermediate levels of APRT activity were selected from unmutagenized CHO cell populations on the basis of resistance to low concentrations of the adenine analog, 8-azaadenine. A functional aprt^+/? heterozygote with ～50% wild-type APRT activity was subsequently used to derive sublines that were also heterozygous for the tk locus. Biochemical and genetic characterization of one such subline, CHO-AT3-2, indicated that it was indeed heterozygous at both the aprt and tk loci. CHO-AT3-2 cells permitted single-step selection of mutants resistant to 8-azaadenine or 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, allowing quantitation and direct comparison of mutation induction at the autosomal aprt or tk loci, as well as in the gene involved in ouabain resistance or at the X-linked, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hgprt) locus. Significant dose-dependent increases in mutation frequency were observed for all 4 genetic markers after treatment of CHO-AT3-2 cells with ethyl methanesulfonate.     

Actin cytoskeleton-dependent dynamics of the human serotonin1A receptor correlates with receptor signaling

Analyzing the dynamics of membrane proteins in the context of cellular signaling represents a challenging problem in contemporary cell biology. Lateral diffusion of lipids and proteins in the cell membrane is known to be influenced by the cytoskeleton. In this work, we explored the role of the actin cytoskeleton on the mobility of the serotonin_1A (5-HT_1A) receptor, stably expressed in CHO cells, and its implications in signaling. FRAP analysis of 5-HT_1AR-EYFP shows that destabilization of the actin cytoskeleton induced by either CD or elevation of cAMP levels mediated by forskolin results in an increase in the mobile fraction of the receptor. The increase in the mobile fraction is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the signaling efficiency of the receptor. Interestingly, with increasing concentrations of CD used, the increase in the mobile fraction exhibited a correlation of ∼0.95 with the efficiency in ligand-mediated signaling of the receptor. Radioligand binding and G-protein coupling of the receptor were found to be unaffected upon treatment with CD. Our results suggest that signaling by the serotonin_1A receptor is correlated with receptor mobility, implying thereby that the actin cytoskeleton could play a regulatory role in receptor signaling. These results may have potential significance in the context of signaling by GPCRs in general and in the understanding of GPCR-cytoskeleton interactions with respect to receptor signaling in particular.     

Knockout of sialidase and pro-apoptotic genes in Chinese hamster ovary cells enables the production of recombinant human erythropoietin in fed-batch cultures

Sialic acid, a terminal monosaccharide present in N-glycans, plays an important role in determining both the in vivo half-life and the therapeutic efficacy of recombinant glycoproteins. Low sialylation levels of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cell cultures are considered a major obstacle to the production of rhEPO in fed-batch mode. This is mainly due to the accumulation of extracellular sialidases released from the cells. To overcome this hurdle, three sialidase genes (Neu1, 2, and 3) were initially knocked-out using the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated large deletion method in the rhEPO-producing rCHO cell line. Unlike wild type cells, sialidase knockout (KO) clones maintained the sialic acid content and proportion of tetra-sialylated rhEPO throughout fed-batch cultures without exhibiting a detrimental effect with respect to cell growth and rhEPO production. Additional KO of two pro-apoptotic genes, BAK and BAX, in sialidase KO clones (5X KO clones) further improved rhEPO production without any detrimental effect on sialylation. On day 10 in fed-batch cultures, the 5X KO clones had 1.4-times higher rhEPO concentration and 3.0-times higher sialic acid content than wild type cells. Furthermore, the proportion of tetra-sialylated rhEPO on day 10 in fed-batch cultures was 42.2–44.3% for 5X KO clones while it was only 2.2% for wild type cells. Taken together, KO of sialidase and pro-apoptotic genes in rCHO cells is a useful tool for producing heavily sialylated glycoproteins such as rhEPO in fed-batch mode.     

Enhanced targeted DNA methylation of the CMV and endogenous promoters with dCas9-DNMT3A3L entails distinct subsequent histone modification changes in CHO cells

With the emergence of new CRISPR/dCas9 tools that enable site specific modulation of DNA methylation and histone modifications, more detailed investigations of the contribution of epigenetic regulation to the precise phenotype of cells in culture, including recombinant production subclones, is now possible. These also allow a wide range of applications in metabolic engineering once the impact of such epigenetic modifications on the chromatin state is available.In this study, enhanced DNA methylation tools were targeted to a recombinant viral promoter (CMV), an endogenous promoter that is silenced in its native state in CHO cells, but had been reactivated previously (β-galactoside α-2,6-sialyltransferase 1) and an active endogenous promoter (α-1,6-fucosyltransferase), respectively. Comparative ChIP-analysis of histone modifications revealed a general loss of active promoter histone marks and the acquisition of distinct repressive heterochromatin marks after targeted methylation. On the other hand, targeted demethylation resulted in autologous acquisition of active promoter histone marks and loss of repressive heterochromatin marks. These data suggest that DNA methylation directs the removal or deposition of specific histone marks associated with either active, poised or silenced chromatin. Moreover, we show that de novo methylation of the CMV promoter results in reduced transgene expression in CHO cells. Although targeted DNA methylation is not efficient, the transgene is repressed, thus offering an explanation for seemingly conflicting reports about the source of CMV promoter instability in CHO cells.Importantly, modulation of epigenetic marks enables to nudge the cell into a specific gene expression pattern or phenotype, which is stabilized in the cell by autologous addition of further epigenetic marks. Such engineering strategies have the added advantage of being reversible and potentially tunable to not only turn on or off a targeted gene, but also to achieve the setting of a desirable expression level.