The growth and nutrient utilization of the insect cell line Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 in batch and continuous culture

The growth of the Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf9 was studied in batch and continuous culture. The results of batch cultivations showed that glucose was the preferred energy and carbon source limiting the cell density in both TNM-FH and IPL-41 media. Continuous culture using IPL-41-based feeding medium with different glucose (2.5, 5 and 10 g l⁻¹) and yeast extract concentrations (4, 8 and 16 g l⁻¹) showed that in serum-supplemented medium the maximum cell density was limited by glucose and yeast extract concentration. The transition to glucose limitation caused a decrease in growth rate and viability. A high cell density culture (18 × 10⁶ ml⁻¹) was obtained using a glucose concentration of 10 g l⁻¹ and a yeast extract concentration of 8 g l⁻¹ in the feeding medium. A yeast extract concentration of 16 g l⁻¹ inhibited growth. Unlike mammalian cell cultures, lactate, alanine and ammonia were not involved in growth inhibition. Lactate did not accumulate under aerobic conditions. Ammonia accumulation, if observed, was insignificant. The level of alanine synthesized and excreted into the culture medium never reached an inhibitory level. During glucose limitation alanine did not accumulate and ammonia was released. However, even in the presence of glucose significant amounts of Asp, Glu, Gln, Asn, Ser, Arg and Met were utilized for energy production. The amino groups of these amino acids were transferred to pyruvate or used for nucleic acid synthesis and excreted in the form of alanine into the culture medium. The consumption of His, Lys, Thr, Gly, Val, Leu, Phe, Tyr, Trp and Ile by growing Sf-9 cells was almost equal to their concentration in the biomass.     

A cell sorting protocol for selecting high-producing sub-populations of Sf9 and High Five™ cells

Insect cell lines such as Sf9 and High Five™ have been widely used to produce recombinant proteins mostly by the lytic baculovirus vector system. We have recently established an expression platform in Sf9 cells using a fluorescence-based recombinase mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) strategy which has similar development timelines but avoids baculovirus infection. To expedite cell engineering efforts, a robust fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) protocol optimized for insect cells was developed here. The standard sorting conditions used for mammalian cells proved to be unsuitable, resulting in post-sorting viabilities below 10% for both cell lines. We found that the extreme sensitivity to the shear stress displayed by Sf9 and High Five™ cells was the limiting factor, and using Pluronic F-68 in the cell suspension could increase post-sorting viabilities in a dose dependent manner. The newly developed protocol was then used to sort stable populations of both cell lines tagged with a DsRed-expressing cassette. Before sorting, the average fluorescence intensity of the Sf9 cell population was 3-fold higher than that of the High Five™ cell population. By enriching with the 10% strongest DsRed-fluorescent cells, the productivity of both cell populations could be successfully improved. The established sorting protocol potentiates the use of RMCE technology for recombinant protein production in insect cells.     

The human histamine H2-receptor couples more efficiently to Sf9 insect cell Gs-proteins than to insect cell Gq-proteins: limitations of Sf9 cells for the analysis of receptor/Gq-protein coupling

The human histamine H2-receptor (hH2R) couples to Gs-proteins to activate adenylyl cyclase and to Gq-proteins to activate phospholipase C, but phospholipase C activation has not consistently been observed. The aim of this study was to compare coupling of hH2R to insect and mammalian Gs- and Gq-proteins in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells. Interaction of hH2R with mammalian G proteins was assessed with coexpressed proteins or receptor-Galpha fusion proteins that enhance coupling efficiency. hH2R efficiently coupled to insect Gs-proteins to activate adenylyl cyclase. However, hH2R poorly coupled to insect Gq-proteins as assessed by the lack of enhancement of histamine-stimulated steady-state GTP hydrolysis by regulators of G protein signaling (RGS proteins). In contrast, RGS-proteins efficiently enhanced GTP hydrolysis stimulated by the human platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR) and the histamine H1-receptor (H1R) from man and guinea pig. The measurement of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration was not useful for studying receptor/Gq-protein coupling. hH2R also efficiently interacted with mammalian Gs-proteins, specifically with fused Gsalpha as assessed by guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPgammaS)-sensitive high-affinity agonist binding, agonist-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding and adenylyl cyclase activation. In contrast, coupling of hH2R to coexpressed and fused mammalian Gqalpha was poor. However, our inability to reconstitute efficient coupling of PAFR and H1R to mammalian Gqalpha indicated that a large portion of the expressed G protein was functionally inactive. Taken together, our data show that hH2R couples more efficiently to insect cell Gs-proteins than to insect cell Gq-proteins. Unfortunately, there are significant limitations in the usefulness of Sf9 cells for comparing the coupling of receptors to mammalian Gs- and Gq-proteins and assessing Gq-mediated activation of effector systems.     

Optimization of the production of full-length rCD4 in baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells

The baculovirus-insect cell system is reliable in expressing a variety of recombinant proteins. A recombinant baculovirus encoding the full length human CD4 has been used to infect Spodoptera frugiperda 9 cells in 6-L-airlift fermentors. The procedured described in this report permitted a 6.5-fold enhancement of rCD4 expression as compared to standard procedures previously published. The increase of rCD4 expression on the cell surface was achieved by using the following steps: (1) Optimal seeding density of 0.8 x 10(6) cells/mL used to multiply cells at a maximum exponential growth of 4.5 x 10(6); (2) high multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 580 PFU/cell; (3) addition of medium at time of infection. In addition to full-length rCD4, a "short" rCD4 with largely deleted cytoplasmic sequence (last 31 C-terminal amino acids) was also efficiently expressed.     

Functional expression of full length Limulus Factor C in stably transformed Sf9 cells

Limulus Factor C is a potent antagonist of endotoxin from Gram-negative bacteria. A fusion construct containing full length Factor C has been cloned intoSpodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell. Stable Sf9 cell transfectants were obtained using Zeocin selection for 2 weeks. The recombinant Factor C (rFC) was secreted into the culture medium at 9 mg l^–1. Both the crude and partially purified rFC were able to detect lipid A at 10 pg ml^–1 in an ELISA-based lipid A binding assay.     

High cell density fed batch and perfusion processes for stable non-viral expression of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) using insect cells: comparison to a batch Sf-9-BEV system

The development of insect cells expressing recombinant proteins in a stable continuous manner is an attractive alternative to the BEV system for recombinant protein production. High cell density fed batch and continuous perfusion processes can be designed to maximize the productivity of stably transformed cells. A cell line (Sf-9SEAP) expressing high levels of the reporter protein SEAP stably was obtained by lipid-mediated transfection of Sf-9 insect cells and further selection and screening. The expression of the Sf-9SEAP cells was compared with the BEVS system. It was observed that, the yield obtained in BEVS was similar to the batch Sf-9SEAP at 8 and 7 IU/mL, respectively. The productivity of this foreign gene product with the stable cells was enhanced by bioprocess intensification employing the fed-batch and perfusion modes of culture to increase the cell density in culture. The fed batch process yielded a maximum cell density of 28 x 10(6) cells/mL and 12 IU/mL of SEAP. Further improvements in the productivity could be made using the perfusion process, which demonstrated a stable production rate for extended periods of time. The process was maintained for 43 days, with a steady-state cell density of 17-20 x 10(6) cells/mL and 7 IU/mL SEAP. The total yield obtained in the perfusion process (394 IU) was approximately 22 and 8 times higher than that obtained in a batch (17.6 IU) and fed batch (46.1 IU) process, respectively.     

Effect of chronic treatment of ohmefentanyl stereoisomers on cyclic AMP formation in Sf9 insect cells expressing human mu-opioid receptors

The binding affinity of ohmefentanyl stereoisomers for mu-opioid receptors and the effect of chronic ohmefentanyl stereoisomers pretreatments on intracellular cAMP formation were investigated in Sf9 insect cells expressing human mu-opioid receptors (Sf9-mu cells). Competitive assay of [3H]ohmefentanyl binding revealed that these isomers had high affinity for micro-opioid receptors in Sf9-mu cells. Isomer F9204 had the highest affinity for mu-opioid receptors with the Ki value of 1.66 +/- 0.28 nM. After pretreated Sf9-mu cells with increasing concentrations of these isomers for 6 h, addition of naloxone (1 microM) precipitated an overshoot of foskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. The ability of these isomers to induce cAMP overshoot differed greatly with the order of F9202>F9205>F9208>F9206>F9204>F9207. Of these isomers, F9202 was 2.7-fold less potent than F9204 in receptor binding affinity, but 71.5-fold more potent in ability to induce cAMP overshoot. These results suggested that there was a significant stereo-structural difference among ohmefentanyl stereoisomers in ability to induce naloxone-precipitated cAMP overshoot in Sf9-mu cells.     

人白血病抑制因子在昆虫细胞Sf9中的表达

人白血病抑制因子(hLIF)cDNA装入p2bac,受其多角蛋白启动子控制,并与野生型线性杆状病毒DNA共转染昆虫细胞Sf9。经ELISA和免疫印迹证实,该重组病毒感染Sf9 24h后(胞解液)和48h后(培养液),均可测得表达的hLIF,在72h时蛋白浓度可达每毫升(1×10~7细胞)4～10μg;经细胞活性观察表明,该蛋白可促进人白血病细胞U937分化,并使U937内信号分子STAT_3合成增加。结果表明,昆虫细胞表达的hLIF可分泌于培养液中且含量高。它的高表达、易纯化、强活性,有实用价值。     

Cytotoxic effects of β‐asarone on Sf9 insect cells

β‐Asarone is the predominant component of the essential oil of rhizomes of Acorus calamus Linn ( Sweet flag). Although rhizome extracts from this plant have long been used for insect pest control, their cytotoxic effects on insect cells are not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the potency of β‐asarone as a natural insecticide by using a Spodoptera frugiperda cell line (Sf9). To assess the cytotoxic effects of β‐asarone on Sf9 cells, we observed morphologic changes in treated cells and performed a cell proliferation assay and a DNA fragmentation assay. After 24 and 48 h of treatment with β‐asarone, the proliferation of the Sf9 cells was inhibited in a dose‐dependent manner, with IC₅₀ values of 0.558 mg/ml at 24 h and 0.253 mg/ml at 48 h. Morphologic changes in β‐asarone‐treated cells were typical of apoptosis and included loss of adhesion, cell shrinkage, and small apoptotic bodies. The DNA laddering present in β‐asarone‐treated SF9 cells and annexin V assay confirmed that this compound can induce apoptosis in insect cells. Together, these findings suggest that apoptosis induction may be one mechanism through which β‐asarone inhibits the proliferation of insect cells and thus exerts insecticidal effects.     

Promoting effect of rapeseed proteins and peptides on Sf9 insect cell growth

The Baculovirus Expression Vector System has become widely used for the production of recombinant proteins for research and diagnostics. Serum-free culture media able to support high cell densities have been developed for the large scale culture of insect cells. While serum elimination aims at avoiding the risks associated with the introduction of an ill defined component of bovine origin, additives such as protein hydrolysates from animal sources are still used. An alternative could be the supplementation of culture media with protein hydrolysates derived from plants. In this study, we describe the replacement of lactalbumin hydrolysate with a laboratory produced hydrolysate of rapeseed proteins. Its effect on Sf9 cell growth kinetics, substrate consumption and by-product formation in low-serum or serum-free medium was evaluated. Cells were unable to grow in the presence of a rapeseed protein hydrolysate generated by PTN 3.0 Special^® enzyme and containing only 24% of peptides under 1 kDa in size. On the other hand, serum-free medium supplementation with a rapeseed protein hydrolysate obtained with Orientase 90N^® enzyme had a strong growth promoting effect, leading to a 60% increase in maximal cell density without affecting cell metabolism. This significant positive effect could be explained by the higher degree of hydrolysis of this digest, with 74% of peptides under 1 kDa in size.     

Starvation‐induced autophagy in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 ovarian cells

Autophagy controls insect development and can be targeted for pest control in agriculture. In the present study, starvation‐induced autophagy is investigated in the insect species Spodoptera frugiperda. Bioinformatics analysis and a search of the EST database (http://bioweb.ensam.inra.fr/spodobase) identifies a putative ATG8 gene of S. frugiperda. To generate a biomarker of autophagosome, the DNA sequence encoding the open reading frame of this gene is amplified and cloned into a pIEX‐4‐mCherry‐EGFP‐SfATG8 recombinant vector. Sf9 cells are then transfected with this expression vector and starved in phosphate‐buffered saline solution for 4 h to induce autophagy, which is examined by LysoTracker staining (Life Technologies, Grand Island, New York), western blotting and fluorescence microscopy. The results obtained show that starvation stimulates lipidation of SfATG8‐PE and the formation of autophagosomes, providing a foundation for further research with respect to autophagy in insects.     

Recombinase‐mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) for monoclonal antibody expression in the commercially relevant CHOK1SV cell line

To meet product quality and cost parameters for therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) production, cell lines are required to have excellent growth, stability, and productivity characteristics. In particular, cell line generation stability is critical to the success of a program, especially where high cell line generation numbers are required for large in‐market supply. However, a typical process for developing such cell lines is laborious, lengthy, and costly. In this study, we applied a FLP/FRT recombinase‐mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) system to build a site‐specific integration (SSI) system for mAb expression in the commercially relevant CHOK1SV cell line. Using a vector with a FRT‐flanked mAb expression cassette, we generated a clonal cell line with good productivity, long‐term production stability, and low mAb gene‐copy number indicating the vector was located in a ‘hot‐spot.’ A SSI host cell line was made by removing the mAb genes from the ‘hot‐spot’ by RMCE, creating a ‘landing pad’ containing two recombination cassettes that allow targeting of one or two copies of recombinant genes. Cell lines made from this host exhibited excellent growth and productivity profiles, and stability for at least 100 generations in the absence of selection agents. Importantly, while clones containing two copies had higher productivity than single copy clones, both were stable over many generations. Taken together, this study suggests the use of FLP‐based RMCE to develop SSI host cells for mAb production in CHOK1SV offers significant savings in both resources and overall cell line development time, leading to a shortened ‘time‐to‐clinic’ for therapeutic mAbs. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 31:1645–1656, 2015     

Bruton酪氨酸激酶在昆虫细胞中表达的初步研究

用杆状病毒表达载体系统表达小鼠Ｂｒｕｔｏｎ酪氨酸激酶（Ｂｒｕｔｏｎｔｙｒｏｓｉｎｅｋｉｎａｓｅ,Ｂｔｋ）．构建重组转染载体时,于Ｂｔｋ起始码的上游插入了一段Ｈ９０２序列．用重组转染载体、苜蓿夜蛾核型多角体病毒线性ＤＮＡ和质脂体共转染Ｓｆ９昆虫细胞,经过对重组杆状病毒三轮扩增后,用Ｈ９０２抗体检测表明,昆虫细胞中Ｂｔｋ的表达已达最高水平．对表达后Ｂｔｋ自身磷酸化检测表明,该激酶具有自身磷酸化活性．从而证实Ｂｔｋ在昆虫细胞中的表达获得了成功     

抗黄曲霉毒素B1单链抗体在Sf9昆虫细胞中的表达与性质分析

目的:在原核表达抗黄曲霉毒素B1(aflatoxin B1,AFB1)单链抗体(single chain Fv fragment,scFv)研究的基础上,为进一步了解和提高抗AFB1 scFv的活性,利用Sf9昆虫细胞表达抗AFB1 scFv,并对其活性进行探索研究。方法:构建pFastBac 1-scFv2E6VHVL重组质粒,将重组质粒转化Escherichia coli (E. coli) DH10Bac细胞,进行蓝白斑筛选,挑取阳性克隆。提取相应的重组杆状病毒穿梭载体Bacmid侵染Sf9昆虫细胞,表达scFv,利用镍亲和层析法纯化scFv,并以ELISA检测scFv活性。结果:蓝白斑筛选后,经菌落PCR和测序验证挑取的白斑阳性单克隆含有正确的单链抗体基因。提取相应的重组杆状病毒穿梭载体Bacmid侵染Sf9昆虫细胞,通过Western blot检测得知抗AFB1 scFv在Sf9昆虫细胞中成功表达。AFB1对scFv的抑制中浓度(IC₅₀)为30μg/ml。结论:与E. coli BL21(DE3)表达系统相比,scFv灵敏度转好,但仍有较大提升空间。     

Stable expression of an active soluble recombinant form of human fucosyltransferase IX in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells

A secretory form of human α3-fucosyltransferase IX (sFUT9) was overexpressed in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells using the stable expression vector pIB/V5-His-TOPO and the signal sequence of human interleukin 2 for efficient secretion. sFUT9 was active and its three potential N-glycosylation sites were occupied. sFUT9 efficiently fucosylated the type II acceptors Galbeta4GlcNAC-R and Fucalpha2Galbeta4GlcNAc-R (R = (CH2)3NHCO(CH2)5–NH-biotin) but not the corresponding sialylated acceptor, and only very poorly the type I (Galbeta3GlcNAc-R) related acceptors. sFUT9 showed a clear preference for glycoproteins containing type II acceptors, with values of 121, 113 and 110 microU/million cell for asialofetuin, erythropoietin and asialoerythropoietin, respectively, values approximately 11-fold higher than those obtained for the small acceptors.     

喜树碱诱导的草地贪夜蛾Sf9细胞凋亡

传统植物源杀虫剂喜树碱具有优异的抑制昆虫生长发育活性, 其诱导昆虫细胞凋亡的作用方式和机制尚不明确, 极大地限制了喜树碱在植物保护领域的应用开发。本研究以1 μmol/L喜树碱诱导草地贪夜蛾Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9细胞呈现细胞皱缩、微绒毛消失和染色质边集等典型细胞凋亡早期超微结构形态特征, 中期凋亡小体逐渐出现并急剧增多, DNA电泳分析可见清晰DNA片段化凋亡特征。流式细胞术分析表明1 μmol/L喜树碱诱导Sf9细胞12 h凋亡率达到最大值39.67%, 是对照的13.13倍, 随后减小。喜树碱诱导Sf9细胞凋亡在12 h和24 h 时Sf caspase-1分别出现两个活性高峰, 表明其作为效应因子在细胞凋亡级联反应过程中具有影响作用。喜树碱显著抑制Sf9细胞拓扑异构酶Ⅰ活性, 阻断解旋负超螺旋pBR322 DNA, 导致DNA损伤进而启动细胞凋亡级联反应使Sf caspase-1活性增加, 提示其信号转导过程是细胞凋亡诱导机制之一。本研究通过分析喜树碱的诱导昆虫Sf9细胞凋亡, 对揭示喜树碱诱导昆虫细胞凋亡的作用机制具有重要启示和帮助。     

A novel medium for expression of proteins selectively labeled with 15N-amino acids in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells

Whereas bacterial expression systems are widely used for production of uniformly or selectively ¹⁵N-labeled proteins the usage of the baculovirus expression system for labeling is limited to very few examples in the literature. Here we present the complete formulations of the two insect media, IML406 and 455, for the high-yield production of selectively ¹⁵N-labeled proteins in insect cells. The quantities of ¹⁵N-amino acids utilized in the production of labeled GST were similar in the case of bacterial and viral expression. For the most studied amino acids essential for insect cells the ¹⁵N-HSQC spectra, recorded with GST labeled in insect cells, showed no cross labeling and provided therefore spectra of better quality compared to NMR spectra of GST expressed in E. coli. Also in the case of amino acids not essential for Sf9 cells we were able to label a defined number of amino acid species. Therefore the selective labeling using the baculovirus expression vector system represents a complement or even an alternative to the bacterial expression system. Based on these findings we can provide a first simple overview of the network of the amino acid metabolism in E. coli and insect cells focused on nitrogen. For some amino acids the expression of labeled proteins in insect cells can replace the cell-free protein expression.     

An economic approach to isotopic enrichment of glycoproteins expressed from Sf9 insect cells

It is estimated that over half of all proteins are glycosylated, yet only a small number of the structures in the protein data bank are of intact glycoproteins. One of the reasons for the lack of structural information on glycoproteins is the high cost of isotopically labeling proteins expressed from eukaryotic cells such as in insect and mammalian cells. In this paper we describe modifications to commercial insect cell growth medium that reduce the cost for isotopically labeling recombinant proteins expressed from Sf9 cells. A key aspect of this work was to reduce the amount of glutamine in the cell culture medium while maintaining sufficient energy yielding metabolites for vigorous growth by supplementing with glucose and algae-derived amino acids. We present an analysis of cell growth and protein production in Sf9 insect cells expressing secreted Thy1-GFP fusion construct. We also demonstrate isotopic enrichment of the Thy-1 protein backbone with ¹⁵N and carbohydrates with ¹³C by NMR spectroscopy.Electronic supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.