Microcalorimetric study on the growth and metabolism of microencapsulated microbial cell culture

The rate of heat output is one of the suitable measurements of metabolic activity of the organism or its parts, down to the cellular or even the sub-cellular levels. In this paper, microcalorimetry was first applied to study the metabolic activity of microbial in both alginate-polylysine-alginate and alginate-chitosan-alginate microencapsulated cultures as well as in free non-encapsulated culture. The organisms used for the measurements were Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As a result of this work, it was found that, despite E. coli cell in free non-encapsulated culture has the highest metabolic rate due to the highest value of heat output, the proliferation of the cells terminates quickly with a lowest biomass formed. And we found also an obviously longer stationary phase in microencapsulated culture. As far as S. cerevisiae was concerned, it was found that there was also the highest value of heat output in free non-encapsulated culture, but the cell density was lower than that in microencapsulated culture. On account of the microcalorimetric and metabolic measurements, it can be concluded that more substrate can be used to convert to biomass in microencapsulated culture which means a higher biomass yield existed.     

APA微囊微环境影响胚胎干细胞增殖分化的体外研究

以小鼠胚胎T细胞（embryonic stem cell,ESC）为模型,在牛理条件F对ESC进行微囊化包封、培养,并利用免疫组织化学技术及RT-PCR方法检测其生长及未分化状态,以期建立微囊化ESC这一体外培养模型,同时明确海藻酸钠-聚赖氨酸-海藻酸钠（alginate-poly-lysine-alginate,APA）微囊微环境对ESC增殖及分化潜能的影响。结果表明：ESC能够在微囊（包括液化型及非液化型）或微球（海藻酸钙胶珠）内生长良好,但因生长环境存在差异,其表现的生长行为各具特征。比较其它类型,ESC在液化型APA微囊内的存活期限最长。经体外维持培养3周以上,仍能持续表达胚胎源未分化T细胞的标志性蛋白AP,SSEA-1及转录因子Oct-4。为进一步明确微囊内增殖的ESC是台仍具有多向分化的干细胞潜能,应用机械破囊法释放微囊内ESC团,并在体外进行定向诱导。经过近3周的条件诱导,其结果为：细胞团DTZ染色阳性：anti-insulin免疫荧光检测阳性;且特异性表达Pdx-1,Ins-1基因。上述结果证明：APA微囊为ESC维持未分化状态的增殖提供了特殊的微环境,APA微囊内所形成的ESC团仍具有多向分化的干细胞潜能。     

Cultivation of hybridoma cells in continuous cultures: kinetics of growth and product formation

Mouse hybridoma cells were grown in suspension in continuous stirred bioreactors. Cell growth, substrate utilization, and monoclonal antibody (MAb) production were studied using serum-free medium. Steady-state data were obtained at different dilution rates, between 0.012 and 0.039 h(-1) Viability was profoundly affected by dilution rate, particularly near the lower end of the dilution-rate range investigated. MAb concentration and productivity went through a maximum with respect to dilution rate. Lactate yield on glucose declined with in creasing dilution rate. Experiments were carried out to study the effects of medium glucose concentration on cell growth, product formation, and lactate yield on glucose. Reduction of glucose concentration in the feed medium did not considerably affect cell density and MAb concentration in the culture, but lactate levels dropped sharply; lactate yield on glucose declined substantially, indicating alterations in cell metabolic path ways for energy metabolism. Optimization strategy for continuous cell culture is discussed.     

Real-time monitoring and control of glucose and lactate concentrations in a mammalian cell perfusion reactor

On-line monitoring and control of cell culture fermentation is important for optimal and consistent production of biologicals. In this work, glucose and lactate concentrations are monitored on-line using a commercially available analyzer (Model 2700, Yellow Springs Instruments, Yellow Springs, OH) during batch and perfusion hybridoma cell fermentation. Cell free samples from the reactor are obtained using a 0.45 mum hollow fiber filtering system placed in a circulation loop. The samples were analyzed at specified times and the data are collected on a computer. A process control strategy was developed to control the concentrations of glucose and lactate in a perfusion reactor where the feed rate is adjusted to maintain their concentrations at desired set points. Hybridoma cells (A10G10) were cultivated in a high density perfusion culture where cell density increased from 2 to 14 million cells/mL. During this period the control algorithm successfully adjusted the perfusion rate while maintaining constant glucose and lactate concentrations. Glucose consumption and lactate accumulation rates as well as net lactate yield on glucose were monitored continuously during perfusion culture. These metabolic rates were observed to be independent of cell concentration and were used for the estimation of viable cell density in the reactor. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 372-378, 1997.     

Effects of ammonia and lactate on hybridoma growth, metabolism, and antibody production

The influence of ammonia and lactate on cell growth, metabolic, and antibody production rates was investigated for murine hybridoma cell line 163.4G5.3 during batch culture. The specific growth rate was reduced by one-half in the presence of an initial ammonia concentration of 4 mM. Increasing ammonia levels accelerated glucose and glutamine consumption, decreased ammonia yield from glutamine, and increased alanine yield from glutamine. Although the amount of antibody produced decreased with increasing ammonia concentration, the specific antibody productivity remained relatively constant around a value of 0.22 pg/cell-h. The specific growth rate was reduced by one-half at an initial lactate concentration of 55 mM. Although specific glucose and glutamine uptake rates were increased at high lacatate concentration, they showed a decrease after making corrections for medium osmolarity. The yield coefficient of lactate from glucose decreased at high lactate concentrations. A similar decrease was observed for the ammonia yield coefficient from glutamine. At elevated lactate concentrations, specific antibody productivities increased, possibly due to the increase in medium osmolarity. The specific oxygen uptake rate was insensitive to ammonia and lactate concentrations. Addition of ammonia and lactate increased the calculated metabolic energy production of the cells. At high ammonia and lactate, the contribution of glycolysis to total energy production increased. Decreasing external pH and increasing ammonia concentrations caused cytoplasmic acidification. Effect of lactate on intracellular pH was insignificant, whereas increasing osmolarity caused cytoplasmic alkalinization.     

微囊化K562细胞生长周期及代谢特性的研究

以K562细胞为模型,分别进行微囊化和游离培养,运用流式细胞术考察两种培养体系下细胞周期和生长代谢变化;建立数学模型,模拟了两种培养体系下细胞的生长活性和代谢特性。实验发现：微囊化培养过程中的K562细胞处于DNA合成期（S期）的百分含量显著高于游离培养,并且细胞保持较高的增殖活性。模型计算表明,所建模型动力学参数能够很好地描述微囊化和游离两种培养体系下细胞的代谢情况;对细胞活性的理论计算表明,微囊化的细胞具有较高的增殖和代谢活性,同时细胞能够较长时间保持此活性;模型参数表明,两种培养体系下,葡萄糖对细胞生长的影响无显著差别 (k^Free_L≈k^APA_L),乳酸对游离培养细胞的生长具有明显抑制作用,但对微囊化培养细胞抑制作用较小(kFreeL>≈kAPAL)。     

微胶囊固定化混合菌群发酵产氢——构建一种虚拟“细胞工厂”的尝试

采用硫酸纤维素钠(NaCS)/聚二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵(PDMDAAC)微胶囊体系,固定混合产氢菌群,构建成一个能高效产氢的虚拟"细胞工厂"。经过菌群活化预处理,激活了产氢活力,进一步通过NaCS/PDMDAAC微胶囊固定化,形成适宜的内部微环境,有效增强了菌群对温度的适应能力,提高了底物浓度,氢气产量比游离细胞增长30%以上,菌体浓度提高2倍到3.2g/L。连续15批培养,囊内菌体浓度显著提高,发酵时间缩短,氢气产率保持在1.73～1.81molH2/molglucose,平均产氢速率提高了198.6%。同时还发现发酵产物中有较高比例的丁酸和乙酸,由此可以使该虚拟"细胞工厂"成为一个多产物联产体系。     

Influence of different ammonium,lactate and glutamine concentrations on CCO cell growth

In this study the effects of ammonium and lactate on a culture of channel catfish ovary (CCO) cells were examined. We also made investigation on the influence of glutamine, since our previous research revealed that this amino acid stimulated CCO cell growth more than glucose in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of ammonium in cell culture included the considerable decrease in cell growth rate with eventual growth arrest as well as the retardation of glucose consumption. At ammonium concentrations above 2.5 mM, the cells displayed specific morphological changes. The effect of lactate was different to that of ammonium since the cell growth rate was progressively decreasing with the increase of lactate concentration, whereas the glucose consumption rate remained almost unchanged. Besides that, it was found that lactate was steadily eliminated from the culture medium when its initial concentration was relatively high. The influence of glutamine on CCO cell propagation showed that nutrient requirements of this cell line were mainly dependent on glutamine rather than glucose. The increase in glutamine concentration led to the increase in cell growth rate and consequent ammonia accumulation while the glucose utilization and lactate production were reduced. Without glutamine in culture medium cell growth was arrested. However, the lack of glucose reversed the stimulating effect of glutamine by decreasing cell growth rate and affecting amino acid utilization.     

Adaptive control at low glucose concentration of HEK-293 cell serum-free cultures.

Fed-batch cultures were implemented to study the metabolism of HEK-293 cells. Glucose, measured every 30 min by a FIA biosensor system, was maintained at 1 mM throughout the culture using an adaptive nonlinear controller based on minimal process modeling. The controller performed satisfactorily at both low and high cell concentrations without the need for retuning between different culture phases. Overall, lactate production was significantly reduced by maintaining a low glucose concentration, thus decreasing the rate of glycolysis. The rates of glucose and glutamine uptake as well as the lactate and ammonia production were compared to those obtained in batch mode with an initial glucose concentration of 21 mM. Basically, three phases were observed in both culture modes. The metabolic shift from the first to the second phase was characterized by a significant reduction in glucose consumption and lactate production while maximum growth rate was maintained. The specific respiration rate appeared unchanged during the first two phases, suggesting that no change occurred in the oxidative pathway capacity. In the third phase, cell growth became slower very likely due to glutamine limitation.     

表达抗-CD25单克隆抗体的GS-NS0骨髓瘤细胞无血清培养及代谢特性

抗-CD25单克隆抗体作为免疫抑制剂拥有广阔的市场前景和巨大的经济价值。本实验以表达抗?CD25单克隆抗体的GS-NS0细胞为研究对象,开发了支持其大规模培养和抗体表达的无血清低蛋白培养基,批培养最大活细胞密度和最大抗体浓度分别达3×106cells/mL和300mg/L以上,比商业无血清培养基(Excell 620+0.2% primatone)分别提高了100%和46%。通过批培养实验,研究了细胞的生长、葡萄糖和氨基酸代谢、以及产物表达特点,并揭示了批培养过程中初始葡萄糖浓度对GS-NS0细胞生长与代谢的影响规律。为优化GS-NS0细胞培养过程和抗CD25单抗成功迈向产业化提供了重要的科学依据。     

重组CHO-GS细胞降低氨毒副作用的代谢研究

在重组CHOGS细胞无血清批培养过程中,由于GS系统的引入,使氨对细胞的毒副作用显著降低,从而引起细胞生长和代谢途径发生变化。当起始氨浓度为1.42mmolL时,细胞最高密度可达到15.6×105cellsmL,随着氨浓度的增加,尽管细胞生长受到一定的抑制,但在氨浓度为12.65mmolL时,细胞密度仍可达到8.9×105cellsmL。当起始氨浓度从0.36mmolL增加到12.65mmolL时,细胞对葡萄糖的得率系数和乳酸对葡萄糖的得率系数降低,己糖激酶(HK)、丙酮酸激酶(PK)和乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)酶活分别提高了43%、140%和25%,表明细胞对葡萄糖的利用增加,糖代谢更倾向于高能量生成途径。在谷氨酰胺代谢途径中,氨促进了谷丙转氨酶(GPT)酶活,谷氨酸到α酮戊二酸的转化逐渐倾向于谷丙转氨途径,谷氨酸脱氢酶(GDH)酶活降低,脱氨途径相应受到抑制。此外,氨浓度的增加使细胞群体处于G0G1期的比例逐渐升高,当氨浓度为12.65mmolL时,重组蛋白比生产速率比氨浓度为0.36mmolL时提高了2.1倍。     

Proliferation and differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells in APA microcapsule: A model for studying the interaction between stem cells and their niche

Embryonic stem (ES) cells hold promise either as an in vitro model recapitulating early embryonic development or as a renewable source of therapeutically useful cells. Certain aspects of the microenvironment (or niche) play critical roles in determining the fate of ES cells. Here, we reported the feasibility of using the technique of microencapsulation to study the interaction between ES cells and their tissue niche. ES cells' growth, viability, and differentiation in vitro were evaluated when they were enclosed in solid or liquefied core APA microcapsules. In comparison with those microcapsules with solid cores, the liquefied capsules provided a more suitable culture environment for the growth of ES cells. In addition, behavior of encapsulated ES cells in vivo was observed after their being implanted into mouse peritoneal cavities. In contrast to the prolonged lag phase in vitro, ES cells encapsulated grew much faster in vivo. Typical markers for the undifferentiated ES cells, such as AP, SSEA-1, and Oct-4 gene, were also tracked by immunochemistry and RT-PCR. Results showed that expression of markers remained high over 2 weeks of culture in vitro. However, decreased expression of markers was found in those samples in vivo with time passage. These findings implied that it was the combination of the intrinsic characteristics of ES cells and their microenvironment that regulated their fate. The APA-ES cells system may provide an optimal model to study the interaction between stem cells and their tissue niches.     

Semicontinuous and continuous production of penicillin-G by Penicillium chrysogenum cells immobilized in kappa-carrageenan beads

Conidia of Penicillium chrysogenum were immobilized in K-carrageenan beads and then incubated in a growth-supporting medium to yield a penicillin producing immobilized cell mass. These in situ grown immobilized cells were used for the semicontinuous (replacement cultures)and continuous (fluidized bioreactor culture) production of penicillin-G. When periodically replaced into a minimal production medium, immobilized cells exhibited a half-life for penicillin production which was ninefold greater than that exhibited by free cells. The half-life of penicillin production and the yield of penicillin from glucose in such a replacement culture were greatly affected by the frequency of replacement and by the production medium's pH and concentration of glucose, phosphate, and trace metal nutrients. A penicillin-producing continuous flow bioreactor (150 mL), employing immobilized cells, was operated for up to 16 days. The best specific penicillin productivity (1.2 mg/g cells/h)yield from glucose (7.0 mg/g glucose) and half-life of production (15 days) were obtained when the feed medium contained 10 g/L of glucose, the pH was maintained at 7.0, the relative dissolved oxygen concentration was ca. 40%; and the residence time was 20 h.     

Overexpression of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier reduces lactate production and increases recombinant protein productivity in CHO cells

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are characterized by a low glucose catabolic efficiency, resulting in undesirable lactate production. Here, it is hypothesized that such low efficiency is determined by the transport of pyruvate into the mitochondria. The mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), responsible for introducing pyruvate into the mitochondria, is formed by two subunits, MPC1 and MPC2. Stable CHO cell lines, overexpressing the genes of both subunits, were constructed to facilitate the entry of pyruvate into the mitochondria and its incorporation into oxidative pathways. Significant overexpression of both genes, compared to the basal level of the control cells, was verified, and subcellular localization of both subunits in the mitochondria was confirmed. Kinetic evaluation of the best MPC overexpressing CHO cells showed a reduction of up to 50% in the overall yield of lactate production with respect to the control. An increase in specific growth rate and maximum viable cell concentration, as well as an increase of up to 40% on the maximum concentration of two recombinant model proteins transiently expressed (alkaline phosphatase or a monoclonal antibody), was also observed. Hybrid cybernetic modeling, that considered 89 reactions, 25 extracellular metabolites, and a network of 62 intracellular metabolites, explained that the best MPC overexpression case resulted in an increased metabolic flux across the mitochondrial membrane, activated a more balanced growth, and reduced the Warburg effect without compromising glucose consumption rate and maximum cell concentration. Overall, this study showed that transport of pyruvate into the mitochondria limits the efficiency of glucose oxidation, which can be overcome by a cell engineering approach.     

丁酸钠和丙酸钠对工程CHO细胞生长代谢和嵌合抗体表达的影响

抗p185erbB-2基因工程抗体是一种有潜力的抗肿瘤药物。以稳定表达抗p185嵌合抗体的重组工程CHO细胞株为对象,分别用不同浓度丁酸钠(0~2mmol/L)和丙酸钠(0~10mmol/L)对处在对数生长期的细胞进行处理,在连续5d的培养过程中,每隔24h取样测活细胞数量,并用ELISA检测上清中抗体含量,5d后结束培养用FACS检测细胞周期。同时还用丁酸钠和丙酸钠处理长至90%满度的细胞,然后每隔12h取样一次检测葡萄糖和乳酸的含量。结果表明丁酸钠和丙酸钠可以有效地提高嵌合抗体在工程CHO细胞中的表达,表达量最高时可达58.3~59.6mg/L,是对照组的1.5倍。同时抑制细胞生长和阻断细胞周期在G1期,并且可减少培养过程中葡萄糖的消耗和乳酸的生成。和丁酸钠相比,丙酸钠具有较小的细胞毒性,是一种有潜力的替代品。     

Impact of temperature reduction and expression of yeast pyruvate carboxylase on hGM-CSF-producing CHO cells

Recently, we demonstrated that a recombinant yeast pyruvate carboxylase expressed in the cytoplasm of BHK-21 cells was shown to partially reconstitute the missing link between glycolysis and TCA, increasing the flux of glucose into the TCA and achieving higher yields of recombinant erythropoietin. In the present study, a CHO cell line producing recombinant human granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor was used to evaluate the impact of PYC2 expression and reduced culture temperature. Temperature reduction from 37 to 33 degrees C revealed a reduced growth rate, a prolonged stationary phase and a 2.1-fold increase of the cell specific rhGM-CSF production rate for CHO-K1-hGM-CSF cells. The PYC2-expressing cell clones showed a decreased cell growth and a lower maximum cell concentration compared to the control expressing rhGM-CSF but no PYC2. However, only 65% lactate were produced in PYC2-expressing cells and the product yield was 200% higher compared to the control. The results obtained for CHO cells compared to BHK cells reported previously, indicated that the PYC2 expression dominantly reduced the lactate formation and increased the yield of the recombinant protein to be produced. Finally, the growth and productivity of PYC2-expressing CHO-K1-hGM-CSF cells under both temperature conditions were investigated. The average cell specific rhGM-CSF production increased by 3.2-fold under reduced temperature conditions. The results revealed that the expression of PYC2 and a reduced culture temperature have an additive effect on the cell specific productivity of CHO-K1-hGM-CSF cells.     

探讨髓系白血病细胞株糖酵解表型特征

探讨髓系白血病细胞株的糖酵解表型特征及其潜在的调控机制。葡萄糖试剂盒和乳酸试剂盒分别检测5株白血病细胞培养上清液中的葡萄糖消耗（G）和乳酸生成含量（L）,计算L／G比值来评估糖酵解水平：定量PCR检测糖酵解相关基因GLUT、MCTlmRNA表达;CCK8法检测细胞体外增殖能力;Western blot检测NAKT蛋白磷酸化水平。结果显示,KG1和K562细胞体外培养24h后的L／G比值分别为1．78和1．71,接近糖酵解表型时L／G为2的比值,同时这两株细胞高表达糖酵解相关基因GLUTl和MCT1mRNA。低糖（0．5mmol／L）、中糖（5mmol／L）、高糖（10mmol／L）处理KGla和K562细胞40h后,两株细胞的增殖能力、葡萄糖消耗和乳酸生成随葡萄糖浓度增加而增强,高糖组增加更为显著（P〈0．05）。相反,若糖酵解抑制剂2-DG（0,5,10mmol／L）处理白血病细胞40h后,两株细胞的增殖能力及糖酵解代谢水平随2．DG浓度增加而降低,高浓度2．DG组（10mmol／L）降低更为显著（P〈0．05）。此外,AKT抑制剂低浓度（5gmol／L）短时间（12h）处理后能抑制白血病细胞AKT蛋白磷酸化水平,同时降低细胞的葡萄糖消耗和乳酸生成（P〈0．05）。该研究提示髓系白血病细胞具有高糖酵解表型,AKT可能参与调控白血病的糖代谢过程,这有助于阐明白血病的能量代谢特征以及为白血病的靶向抗代谢治疗奠定基础。     

Continuous culture of CHO-K1 cells producing thrombomodulin and estimation of culture conditions

Recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells expressing human soluble thrombomodulin (rsTM) were cultured in a continuous culture system with a fluidized-bed reactor. Cells were grown in a medium containing 1% serum for 10 d, and then cultured in a serum-free medium. The protein production rate increased remarkably in the serum-free culture, with a decrease in the lactate production rate. This suggests that CHO-K1 cells exhibit different physiological characteristics in response to serum removal from the medium, which resulted in a higher rsTM concentration (about 60 mg/l). A procedure for estimating protein productivity was developed using experimental glucose and lactate measurements. In this procedure, cell density was estimated from the glucose consumption rate, and the specific protein (rsTM) production rate was obtained from the ratio of lactate production/glucose consumption (ΔL/ΔG). Since the cell density and protein productivity in repeated batch culture were well estimated, the procedure was applied to continuous culture in a fluidized-bed bioreactor culture. The estimation procedure was also found to be effective in this continuous culture using the models derived from the repeated batch culture.     

Growth characterizations of a human monocytic leukemia cell line in a serum-free medium

A clone, AH-01S, derived from a human monocytic leukemia cell line, THP-1, grew rapidly in a serum-free medium containing insulin, transferrin, ethanolamine, and sodium selenite. In batch culture using the serum-free medium, the AH-01S cells proliferated at a specific growth rate (μ) of 0.30 to 0.50 (1/day) from a cell concentration of 1 × 10⁴ cells/ml to 1.6 × 10⁶ cells/ml, an increase of 160 times. A higher cell concentration of 0.45 × 10⁷ cells/ml (cell volume ratio was 0.5%) was obtained in spinner flask culture using the serum-free medium. A mean specific growth rate 0.50 (1/day) was also observed in a culture in a fully instrumented cell culture fermentor. However, μ decreased drastically after the cell concentration reached 1.5 × 10⁶ cells/ml. Analyses of medium composition during cultivation revealed that under lower cell concentration, l-glutamine was the main carbon source while glucose was converted to lactate almost stoichiometrically, and that the production of lactate from glucose decreased at higher cell concentrations. To obtain cultures of 1 × 10⁹ cells, 1,200 to 1,300 mg of a carbon source (glucose) and 400 to 500 of amino acids were consumed during high cell concentration cultivation of the AH-01S cells in the serum-free medium.     

Combinatorial engineering of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ldh-a</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">bcl-2</Emphasis> for reducing lactate production and improving cell growth in dihydrofolate reductase-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells

In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, rapid glucose metabolism normally leads to inefficient use of glucose, most of which is converted to lactate during cell cultures. Since lactate accumulation during the culture often exerts a negative effect on cell growth and valuable product formation, several genetic engineering approaches have been developed to suppress lactate dehydrogenase-A (LDH-A), the enzyme converting pyruvate into lactate. However, despite the reduced lactate accumulation, such cell cultures are eventually terminated in the late period of the culture, mainly due to apoptosis. Therefore, we developed an apoptosis-resistant, less lactate-producing dhfr ⁻ CHO cell line (CHO-Bcl2-LDHAsi) by overexpressing Bcl-2, one of the most well-known anti-apoptotic proteins, and by downregulating LDH-A in a dhfr ⁻ CHO cell line. When the dhfr ⁻ CHO-Bcl2-LDHAsi cell line was used as a host cell line for the development of recombinant CHO (rCHO) cells producing an Fc-fusion protein, the culture longevity of the rCHO cells was extended without any detrimental effect of genetic engineering on specific protein productivity. Simultaneously, the specific lactate production rate and apparent yield of lactate from glucose were reduced to 21–65% and 37–78% of the control cells, respectively. Taken together, these results show that the use of an apoptosis-resistant, less lactate-producing dhfr ⁻ CHO cell line as a host cell line saves the time and the effort of establishing an apoptosis-resistant, less lactate-producing rCHO cells for producing therapeutic proteins.