Beneficial effect of silkworm hemolymph on a CHO cell system: Inhibition of apoptosis and increase of EPO production

To produce erythropoietin (EPO), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were first cultured in a medium containing FBS (growth medium) and then in a serum-free medium containing sodium butyrate (production medium). Sodium butyrate increases recombinant protein production, but also induces apoptosis, which reduces cell viability and productivity. In a previous study, we found that silkworm hemolymph (SH), an insect serum, inhibits the apoptosis of insect and mammalian cells. To overcome sodium butyrate-induced apoptosis, we added SH to growth medium. This pretreatment with SH inhibited the sodium butyrate-induced apoptosis of CHO cells and consequently increased their longevity and their ability to produce EPO. As a result, the volumetric productivity of EPO was increased five-fold. SH was found to inhibit cytochrome c release from mitochondria into the cytosol, and prevented the activation of caspase-3 and other subsequent caspase reactions.     

效应面法优化CHO细胞培养基中几种主要成分的含量

目的:考察培养基中葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠含量对CHO细胞生长繁殖的影响。方法:在CHO细胞培养基中添加不同成分的葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠,通过单因素实验结果结合Box-Behnken效应面法,根据二次回归模型的分析结果,以细胞表达蛋白体外活性为指标进行实验,考察培养基中葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠含量对细胞生长繁殖的影响。结果:根据回归方程分析结果,作出相应的曲面图和等高线图,优选出培养基中各组分的最佳配比为:葡萄糖2.54 g/L、谷氨酰胺0.59 g/L、血清8.3%,碳酸氢钠2.96 g/L。结论:Box-Behnken实验设计法用于细胞培养过程中考察培养基中各组分的优选是可行的,数学模型的预测值与实验观察值相符。通过对CHO细胞培养基成分的优化,使CHO细胞蛋白表达量高,有利于提高产品质量和降低生产成本。     

效应面法优化CHO细胞培养基中几种丰要成分的含量

目的：考察培养基中葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠含量对CHO细胞生长繁殖的影响。方法：在CHO细胞培养基中添加不同成分的葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠,通过单因素实验结果结合Box-Behnken效应面法,根据二次回归模型的分析结果,以细胞表达蛋白体外活性为指标进行实验,考察培养基中葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、血清、碳酸氢钠含量对细胞生长繁殖的影响。结果：根据回归方程分析结果,作出相应的曲面图和等高线图,优选出培养基中各组分的最佳配比为：葡萄糖2．54g／L、谷氨酰胺O．59g／L、血清8．3％,碳酸氢钠2．96g／L。结论：Box—Behnken实验设计法用于细胞培养过程中考察培养基中各组分的优选是可行的,数学模型的预测值与实验观察值相符。通过对CHO细胞培养基成分的优化,使CHO细胞蛋白表达量高,有利于提高产品质量和降低生产成本。     

A novel role of sodium butyrate in the regulation of cancer-associated aromatase promoters I.3 and II by disrupting a transcriptional complex in breast adipose fibroblasts

The aromatase gene encodes the key enzyme for estrogen formation. Aromatase enzyme inhibitors eliminate total body estrogen production and are highly effective therapeutics for postmenopausal breast cancer. A distal promoter (I.4) regulates low levels of aromatase expression in tumor-free breast adipose tissue. Two proximal promoters (I.3/II) strikingly induce in vivo aromatase expression in breast fibroblasts surrounding malignant cells. Treatment of breast fibroblasts with medium conditioned with malignant breast epithelial cells (MCM) or a surrogate hormonal mixture (dibutyryl (Bt2)cAMP plus phorbol diacetate (PDA)) induces promoters I.3/II. The mechanism of promoter-selective expression, however, is not clear. Here we reported that sodium butyrate profoundly decreased MCM- or Bt2cAMP + PDA-induced promoter I.3/II-specific aromatase mRNA. MCM, Bt2cAMP + PDA, or sodium butyrate regulated aromatase mRNA or activity only via promoters I.3/II but not promoters I.1 or I.4 in breast, ovarian, placental, and hepatic cells. Mechanistically, recruitment of phosphorylated ATF-2 by a CRE (-211/-199, promoter I.3/II) conferred inductions by MCM or Bt2cAMP + PDA. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-PCR and immunoprecipitation-immunoblotting assays indicated that MCM or Bt2cAMP + PDA stabilized a complex composed of phosphorylated ATF-2, C/EBPbeta, and cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB)-binding protein in the common regulatory region of promoters I.3/II. Overall, histone acetylation patterns of promoters I.3/II did not correlate with sodium butyrate-dependent silencing of promoters I.3/II. Sodium butyrate, however, consistently disrupted the activating complex composed of phosphorylated ATF-2, C/EBPbeta, and CREB-binding protein. This was mediated, in part, by decreased ATF-2 phosphorylation. Together, these findings represent a novel mechanism of sodium butyrate action and provide evidence that aromatase activity can be ablated in a signaling pathway- and cell-specific fashion.     

Sodium butyrate is a potent modulator of smooth muscle cell proliferation and gene expression

Sodium butyrate is a small, naturally occurring molecule with demonstrated activity on cell growth and differentiation. However, its effect on smooth muscle cells had not been examined. We have found that sodium butyrate and its more stable in vivo analogue tributyrin are potent DNA synthesis and cell proliferation inhibitors. The inhibitory activity of sodium butyrate was not mediated by an elevation of endogenous cAMP levels, a known pathway involved in SMC growth-arrest and maintenance of the contractile phenotype. Consistent with the concept that its activity is mediated by a cAMP-independent pathway, butyrate was able to augment the maximum DNA synthesis inhibitory effect of various agents that elevated intracellular cAMP levels. Additionally, butyrate present for just the initial 8 h or present as late as 16 h after serum addition was able to inhibit DNA synthesis. By contrast, the cAMP analogue, 8Br-cAMP had to be present throughout the entire G₀ to S phase of the cell cycle to effectively inhibit DNA synthesis. These results indicated that sodium butyrate inhibited SMC growth through a cAMP-independent mechanism. We also found that sodium butyrate was unable to abrogate the expression of the serum-inducible genes c- fos , c- myc , Ki-Ras and PS4, but was able to directly stimulate the expression of PS4 and thrombospondin. These results indicate that a number of important early G₁ events initiated by serum growth factors are unaltered by sodium butyrate and that this compound is able to directly stimulate the expression of certain genes normally associated with SMC proliferation.     

Kinetics of prourokinase production by human kidney cells in culture

The kinetics of prourokinase production by human kidney cell line TCL were investigated using microcarriers, roller bottles and a ceramic system. The type of microcarriers used for cell cultivation affects not only growth kinetics but also the duration of post-confluent production period. Different clones of cells derived from the same line can also exhibit different growth kinetics on different types of microcarriers. The effect of serum concentration on the prourokinase production was examined. Using a low serum concentration of 1 % the production of pro-urokinase on microcarriers, roller bottles and a ceramic system was compared. In all three systems the production was sustained over an extended period reaching beyond confluence.     

Butyrated ManNAc analog improves protein expression in Chinese hamster ovary cells

The chemical additive sodium butyrate (NaBu) has been applied in cell culture media as a direct and convenient method to increase the protein expression in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and other mammalian cells. In this study, we examined an alternative chemical additive, 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc, for its effect on recombinant protein production in CHO. Supplementation with 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc for two stable CHO cell lines, expressing human erythropoietin or IgG, enhanced protein expression for both products with negligible impact on cell growth, viability, glucose utilization, and lactate accumulation. In contrast, sodium butyrate treatment resulted in a ～20% decrease in maximal viable cell density and ～30% decrease in cell viability at the end of cell cultures compared to untreated or 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc treated CHO cell lines for both products. While NaBu treatment enhanced product yields more than the 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc treatment, the NaBu treated cells also exhibited higher levels of caspase 3 positive cells using microscopy analysis. Furthermore, the mRNA levels of four cell apoptosis genes (Cul2, BAK, BAX, and BCL2L11) were up‐regulated more in sodium butyrate treated wild‐type, erythropoietin, or IgG expressing CHO‐K1 cell lines while most of the mRNA levels of apoptosis genes in 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc treated cell lines remained equal or increased only slightly compared to the levels in untreated CHO cell lines. Finally, lectin blot analysis revealed that the 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc‐treated cells displayed higher relative sialylation levels on recombinant EPO, consistent with the effect of the ManNAc component of this additive, compared to control while NaBu treatment led to lower sialylation levels than control, or 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc‐treatment. These findings demonstrate that 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc has fewer negative effects on cell cytotoxicity and apoptosis, perhaps as a result of a more deliberate uptake and release of the butyrate compounds, while simultaneously increasing the expression of multiple recombinant proteins, and improving the glycosylation characteristics when applied at comparable molarity levels to NaBu. Thus, 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAc represents a highly promising media additive alternative in cell culture for improving protein yields without sacrificing cell mass and product quality in future bioproduction processes.

     

Semi-Commercial-Scale Production of Japanese B Encephalitis Virus Vaccines from Tissue Culture

This study was undertaken to modify and develop procedures for tissue culture-inactivated Japanese B encephalitis (JBE) virus vaccine production in large quantities. Various types of glass bottles were tried and, considering many advantages, long cylindrical roller (CR) bottles were selected. Several variables were investigated including number and volume of trypsinized cells to be seeded, volume of growth medium required for optimum cell growth, amount of calf serum, and volume of harvest medium for a high-titer virus yield. A good confluent cell sheet in CR bottles was obtained within a week by increasing the calf serum from 4 to 10% and when such tissue in a CR bottle was inoculated with 45,000 viral mean tissue culture infective doses directly into the medium, the cytopathological effects (CPE) appeared on day 5. High-titer virus yields were obtained when the harvests were made at 4(+) CPE using medium 199 with 2% human albumin at pH 8.3 to 8.5. No appreciable gain in titer was found from such harvests by blending to release intracellular virions. The production methods finally adopted gave consistently good results, and several inactivated JBE virus vaccine lots with minimum immunizing doses, ranging from 0.005 to 0.017 ml, were prepared using a large number of CR bottles in a simulated commercial-scale production system.     

Butyrate blocks the accumulation of CDC2 mRNA in late G1 phase but inhibits both the early and late G1 progression in chemically transformed mouse fibroblasts BP-A31

Sodium butyrate (6 mM) blocks the resumption of the cell division cycle in serum-deprived chemically transformed Balb/c-3T3 mouse fibroblasts (BP-A31). The inhibition of G1 progression by sodium butyrate is not restricted to a specific mitogenic signaling pathway and is equally effective when tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA), insulin, or fetal calf serum (FCS) is used as inducer. The inhibitor acts in early as well as late G1 phase as indicated by experiments in which inhibitor was added and withdrawn at different times after restimulation of quiescent cells by FCS. At the gene expression level, sodium butyrate does not affect the inducibility of early cell cycle-related genes (c-myc, c-jun) while blocking the induction of cdc 2 mRNA, a late G1 marker. We conclude that sodium butyrate does not interfere with the growth factor signaling pathways regulating the (early) cell cycle-related gene expression. However, the presence of sodium butyrate early in G1 phase inhibits the cascade of events leading eventually to the expression of late G1-characteristic genes such as cdc2. The antimitogenic activity of sodium butyrate may be related to its interference with an (unknown) process involved in the "mitogenic" cascade.     

Fluorescent proteins in animal cells for process development: optimization of sodium butyrate treatment as an example.

Fluorescent proteins expressed in mammalian cells can be quantified quickly and noninvasively with a standard fluorescence plate reader. We have previously exploited this quality in cell growth assessment (Hunt et al., 1999b). In this work, different CHO cell lines constitutively expressing fluorescent proteins were evaluated as model systems for process development and optimization. Our results demonstrate that the fluorescence of these cell lines quickly reveals conditions that might improve the overall productivity. Sodium butyrate, a well-known yet unpredictable enhancer of production, was chosen for this study. Due to the competing effects of sodium butyrate ("butyrate") on expression and cell number, the maximal overall productivity represents a compromise between enhancement of production and toxicity. Based on fluorescence only, it is possible to separate effects on cell number and specific production by combining microplate fluorescence measurements with data obtained by flow cytometry. This allows for rapid screening of different clones without counting cells or quantifying the recombinant protein, a highly attractive feature if the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) was correlated to that of a protein of interest. For all clones tested, negative effects of butyrate on proliferation were similar, while net enhancement of expression was characteristic for each clone. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize treatment for each individual clone. This work demonstrates that, based on the fluorescence of GFP-expresssing cell lines, it is possible to examine noninvasively three critical, generic parameters of butyrate treatment: butyrate concentration, exposure time, and culture phase at the time of addition.     

Differential effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors on interleukin-18 gene expression in myeloid cells

Histone deacetyrase (HDAC) inhibitors induce growth arrest and differentiation of leukemia cell lines and tumor cells derived from a large variety of human tissues. Here we showed that HDAC inhibitors sodium butyrate, TSA, and valproate regulated the expression of Interleukin-18 (IL-18), a cytokine with antitumor and proinflammatory properties, in human acute myeloid leukemia cell lines U937 and HEL. Sodium butyrate increased expression of IL-18 protein and mRNA and activated 1357bp IL-18 gene promoter construct. IL-18 mRNA level was up-regulated by TSA or valproate, which also activated IL-18 full-length promoter. While sodium butyrate or TSA stimulated the 108-bp IL-18 minimal promoter, valproate failed to activate it, indicating that valproate may use a distinct mechanism from sodium butyrate and TSA to activate IL-18 gene expression.     

丁酸钠对CHO-EPO工程细胞株rhEPO表达量的影响

以稳定整合有ｐＥＤＥＰＯ的ＣＨＯＥＰＯ工程细胞株为研究对象,在无血清条件下,系统观察了０５、１０、２５和５０ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ４个浓度的丁酸钠作用于该细胞株的情况,结果表明：丁酸钠对ＣＨＯＥＰＯ工程细胞的生长有明显的抑制作用;影响ＣＨＯＥＰＯ工程细胞ＥＰＯ表达,浓度１０ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ可提高ＥＰＯ表达量２５倍左右,并可持续较长的一段时间;延缓ＣＨＯＥＰＯ工程细胞在无血清培养时的细胞脱落;提高ＣＨＯＥＰＯ工程细胞ＥＰＯｍＲＮＡ水平     

Beneficial effect of 30Kc6 gene expression on production of recombinant interferon-β in serum-free suspension culture of CHO cells

The Bombyx mori 30Kc gene is known to have anti-apoptotic activity and can enhance the cell growth and expression of recombinant proteins in anchorage-dependent CHO cell cultures. In this study, an interferon-β (IFN-β)-producing CHO cell line, which expresses the recombinant 30Kc6 gene, was constructed to investigate the effect of 30Kc6 expression on the production of IFN-β in serum-free suspension culture. The 30Kc6 expressing cell line showed lower apoptotic activity and prolonged cell viability under apoptotic conditions induced by the addition of sodium butyrate, staurosporine, or the removal of serum. The 30Kc6 expressing cell line also suppressed the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential induced under these conditions. It was observed that viability, and production of IFN-β were also enhanced by 30Kc6 expression in serum-free suspension cultures. These results indicate that the 30Kc6 gene can positively affect the viability and production of recombinant therapeutic proteins in serum-free suspension cultures of CHO cell lines.     

Engineering Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to achieve an inverse growth – associated production of a foreign protein, β-galactosidase

Protein synthesis in mammalian cells can be observed in two strikingly different patterns: 1) production of monoclonal antibodies in hybridoma cultures is typically inverse growth associated and 2) production of most therapeutic glycoproteins in recombinant mammalian cell cultures is found to be growth associated. Production of monoclonal antibodies has been easily maximized by culturing hybridoma cells at very low growth rates in high cell density fed- batch or perfusion bioreactors. Applying the same bioreactor techniques to recombinant mammalian cell cultures results in drastically reduced production rates due to their growth associated production kinetics. Optimization of such growth associated production requires high cell growth conditions, such as in repeated batch cultures or chemostat cultures with attendant excess biomass synthesis. Our recent research has demonstrated that this growth associated production in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells is related to the S (DNA synthesis)-phase specific production due to the SV40 early promoter commonly used for driving the foreign gene expression. Using the stably transfected CHO cell lines synthesizing an intracellular reporter protein under the control of SV40 early promoter, we have recently demonstrated in batch and continuous cultures that the product synthesis is growth associated. We have now replaced this S-phase specific promoter in new expression vectors with the adenovirus major late promoter which was found to be active primarily in the G1-phase and is expected to yield the desirable inverse growth associated production behavior. Our results in repeated batch cultures show that the protein synthesis kinetics in this resulting CHO cell line is indeed inverse growth associated. Results from continuous and high cell density perfusion culture experiments also indicate a strong inverse growth associated protein synthesis. The bioreactor optimization with this desirable inverse growth associated production behavior would be much simpler than bioreactor operation for cells with growth associated production. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.