Production of a recombinant antibody fragment in whole insect larvae

Infection of insect cells with baculovirus expression constructs is commonly used to produce recombinant proteins that require post-translational modifications for their activity, such as mammalian proteins. However, technical restraints limit the capacity of insect cell-based culture systems to be scaled up to produce the large amounts of recombinant protein required for human pharmaceuticals. In this study, we designed an automated insect rearing system and whole insect baculovirus expression system (PERLXpress™) for the expression and purification of recombinant proteins on a large scale. As a test model, we produced a recombinant mouse anti-botulinum antibody fragment (Fab) in Trichoplusia ni larvae. A recombinant baculovirus co-expressing the Fab heavy and light chains together with N-terminal sequences from the silkworm hormone bombyxin, to direct proteins into the secretory pathway, was constructed. Fifth instar larvae were reared and infected orally with recombinant (pre- occluded) baculovirus using the automated system and harvested approximately after 4 days. The total yield of recombinant Fab was 1.1 g/kg of larvae, resulting in 127 mg of pure Fab in one production run. The Fab was purified to homogeneity using immobilized metal affinity chromatography, gel filtration, and anion exchange chromatography. The identity of the purified protein was verified by Western blots and size-exclusion chromatography. Purified recombinant Fab was used to detect botulinum toxin in ELISA experiments, demonstrating that the heavy and light chains were properly assembled and folded into functional heterodimers. We believe that this is the first demonstration of the expression of a recombinant antibody in whole insect larvae. Our results demonstrate that a baculovirus-whole larvae expression system can be used to express functionally active recombinant Fab fragments. As the PERLXpress™ system is an automated and linearly scalable technology, it represents an attractive alternative to insect cell culture for the production of large amounts of human pharmaceuticals.     

大口黑鲈β-防御素在杆状病毒系统中的表达及抑菌活性

β-防御素是鱼类天然免疫的重要组成部分, 通过杆状表达系统表达大口黑鲈β-防御素, 研究其具有高效、广谱的不同于抗生素的独特抗菌的能力。研究通过序列分析, 发现大口黑鲈β-防御素(MSBdefe)与其他物种β-防御素具有相似的特征, 都包含6个保守的半胱氨酸。将MSBdefe基因进行昆虫密码子优化合成后, 克隆至穿梭载体pYBDM-IM质粒中, 构建成为重组质粒MSBdefe-pYBDM-IM, 重组质粒转化感受态细胞MultiBac/rSW106/asd-/inv+, 阳性重组菌株MSBdefe-pYBDM-IM-Am直接用于Sf9细胞的感染, 获得重组杆状病毒AV-MSBdefe。通过SDS-PAGE和Western Blot检测AV-MSBdefe感染Sf9细胞后蛋白表达, 结果表明成功获得MSBdefe重组蛋白。通过对淡水鱼类最常见的病原菌嗜水气单胞菌的抑菌活性分析, 结果显示当MSBdefe重组蛋白的终浓度为30 μg/mL时, 抑菌效率为83.00%, 并随着蛋白稀释2倍、4倍后, 即终浓度为15和7.5 μg/mL时, 抑菌效果逐渐减弱, 抑菌效率分别为54.33%和33.67%, 进而验证了大口黑鲈β-防御素能够抑制嗜水气单胞菌的生长, 且随着蛋白浓度的降低抑制能力下降。这些结果为利用昆虫生物反应器规模化生产鱼类β-防御素奠定了基础, 以期为开发能够替代或部分替代抗生素的天然抗菌剂提供良好的候选者和技术途径。     

Baculovirus expression and bioactivity of a soluble 140 kDa extracellular cleavage fragment of L1 neural cell adhesion molecule

L1 neural cell adhesion molecule is the founding member of the L1 subfamily of the immunoglobulin superfamily and plays an important role in the overall development of both the central and peripheral nervous systems, making it an attractive candidate for promoting neural regeneration following injury. Currently, L1 used for experimental studies is primarily mammalian-derived; however, the insect cell expression system described here provides an alternative source of recombinant L1 with equivalent bioactivity. A 140 kDa L1 fragment based on a physiological plasmin cleavage site in the extracellular domain was cloned and expressed with a C-terminal 6x histidine tag. Recombinant insect cell-derived L1 was analyzed by Western blot using an antibody to human L1 to confirm immunogenicity and to optimize infection conditions for recombinant L1 production. The recombinant protein was secreted by insect cells, efficiently purified under non-denaturing conditions using dialysis followed by metal affinity chromatography, and analyzed by SDS-PAGE to produce a single band of the expected approximate 140 kDa size. The bioactivity of insect cell-derived L1 was compared to mammalian-derived L1-Fc and poly-L-lysine (PLL) using chick embryonic forebrain neurons. The results show comparable, robust neurite outgrowth at 24h on insect cell-derived L1 and mammalian-derived L1-Fc, with significantly longer neurites than those observed on PLL. Future studies will examine the immobilization of L1 to biomaterial surfaces in physiologically appropriate orientation via the C-terminal 6x histidine tag and will investigate their application in promoting axonal regeneration in the injured nervous system.     

Effects of autophagy inducers on recombinant antibody production in insect cells

Insect cells have recently proven to be an excellent platform for the high-level production of functional recombinant proteins. Autophagy is an important mechanism that promotes cell survival by eliminating damaged organelles and protein aggregates, and it also may influence recombinant protein production. In the present study, we compared the effects that autophagy inducers rapamycin, everolimus, and lithium chloride exert on recombinant lepidopteran insect cells that secrete an engineered antibody molecule. Compared with nontreatment, treatment with either rapamycin or everolimus prolonged cell growth to allow high cell density, improved viability in the declining phase, and then increased the yield of secreted antibodies. These positive effects appeared to be induced via autophagy since autophagosomes were clearly detected, particularly in cells treated with rapamycin or everolimus. Unlike rapamycin, another autophagy inducer, FK506, was ineffective in insect cells. The addition of an appropriate autophagy inducer may be effective in increasing the productivity of recombinant proteins in insect cells.

     

Recombinant scorpion insectotoxin AaIT kills specifically insect cells but not human cells

The nucleotide sequence deduced from the amino acid sequence of the scorpion insectotoxin AaIT was chemically synthesized and was expressed in Escherichia coli. The authenticity of this in vitro expressed peptide was confirmed by N-terminal peptide sequencing. Two groups of bioassays, artificial diet incorporation assay and contact insecticidal effect assay, were carried out separately to verify the toxicity of this recombinant toxin. At the end of a 24 h experimental period, more than 60% of the testing diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) larvae were killed in both groups with LCs0 value of 18.4 uM and 0.70 μM respectively. Cytotoxicity assay using cultured Sf9 insect cells and MCF-7 human cells demonstrated that the toxin AaIT had specific toxicity against insect cells but not human cells. Only 0.13 μM recombinant toxin was needed to kill 50% of cultured insect cells while as much as 1.3μM toxin had absolutely no effect on human cells. Insect cells produced obvious intrusions from their plasma membrane before broken up. We infer that toxin AaIT bind to a putative sodium channel in these insect cells and open the channel persistently, which would result in Na influx and finally cause destruction of insect cells.     

Catalase effect on cell death for the improvement of recombinant protein production in baculovirus-insect cell system

Baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) in host insect cells is a powerful technology to produce recombinant proteins, as well as virus-like particles (VLP). However, BEVS is based on baculovirus infection, which limits the recombinant protein production by inducing insect cell death. Herein a new strategy to enhance cell life span and to increase recombinant protein production was developed. As baculovirus infection induces cellular oxidative stress, the ability of several antioxidants to inhibit cell death was tested during infection. The production of rotavirus structural proteins was used as model to analyse this new strategy. We found that only catalase is able to partially prevent cell death triggered by baculovirus infection and to inhibit lipid peroxidation. An increase in recombinant protein production was coupled with the partial cell death inhibition. In summary, the addition of catalase is a promising strategy to improve recombinant protein production in BEVS, by delaying insect cell death.     

伯氏致病杆菌IDP16 蛋白抑制大蜡螟的免疫反应

[目的]从伯氏致病杆菌(Xenorhabdus bovienii)胞外组分中分离纯化出能够抑制大蜡螟(Galleria mellonella)免疫反应的一种蛋白,研究其在昆虫病原线虫及其共生菌致病过程中的作用.[方法]采用硫酸铵沉淀和柱层析的方法对活性蛋白进行分离和纯化,通过体内注射并观察血淋巴黑化进行活性蛋白的筛选;采用荧光微球和琼脂糖小球评价活性蛋白对血细胞吞噬、包被作用的影响;采用双向电泳结合质谱分析对活性蛋白进行鉴定,设计引物用PCR的方法克隆其编码基因,利用pET 30a载体进行原核表达,以亲和层析纯化重组蛋白.[结果]纯化得到一个昆虫免疫抑制蛋白,命名为IDP16,该蛋白可显著抑制大蜡螟血淋巴中的多酚氧化酶活性,降低血细胞的吞噬和包被作用.克隆得到其编码基因并进行了原核表达,重组蛋白仍具有免疫抑制活性.[结论]伯氏致病杆菌产生的IDP16蛋白能够抑制昆虫的免疫反应,在共生菌和宿主昆虫互作过程中起着重要的作用.     

SARS冠状病毒S受体结合区蛋白片段在杆状病毒载体中的表达及其抗原性研究

目的:利用Bac-to-Bac1杆状病毒系统,在sf9昆虫细胞中表达严重急性呼吸综合征(SARS)冠状病毒(SARS-CoV)的S受体结合区蛋白片段,并对其免疫原性进行研究。方法:将S蛋白的受体结合区基因片段定向克隆至转座载体pFast-Bac1,转化大肠杆菌DH10Bac感受态细胞,用抗生素平板筛选重组杆粒。脂质体介导重组杆粒转染sf9昆虫细胞,待细胞形态明显改变后收获细胞和培养上清液。利用SARS病人恢复期抗血清做ELISA和Western印迹,分析重组蛋白的抗原性。结果:ELISA和Western印迹表明,在sf9昆虫细胞中表达的SARS-CoVS受体结合区重组蛋白可与SARS病人恢复期抗血清发生特异反应。结论:获得了在昆虫细胞内表达的SARS-CoVS受体结合区重组蛋白,并证明该蛋白有可能用于SARS感染的抗体检测,为SARS-CoV免疫机制及其疫苗的进一步研究奠定了基础。     

Characterization of the human transferrin receptor produced in a baculovirus expression system

Recombinant human transferrin receptor has been produced in a baculovirus expression system. Magnetic particles coated with an anti-transferrin receptor monoclonal antibody were used to immunoselect virus-infected Sf9 insect cells expressing the human transferrin receptor on their cell surface. Recombinant virus containing the human transferrin receptor cDNA was then plaque-purified from these cells. Biosynthetic labeling studies of infected cells showed that the human transferrin receptor is one of the major proteins made 2-3 days postinfection. The recombinant receptor made in insect cells is glycosylated and is also posttranslationally modified by the addition of a fatty acid moiety. However, studies with tunicamycin and endoglycosidases H and F showed that the oligosaccharides displayed on the recombinant receptor differ from those found on the naturally occurring receptor in human cells. As a consequence, the human receptor produced in the baculovirus system has an Mr of 82,000 and is smaller in size than the authentic receptor. About 30% of human transferrin receptors made in insect cells do not form intermolecular disulfide bonds, but are recognized by the anti-transferrin receptor antibody, B3/25, and bind specifically to a human transferrin-Sepharose column. Binding studies using 125I-labeled human transferrin showed that insect cells infected with the recombinant virus expressed an average of 5.8 +/- 0.9 X 10(5) transferrin receptors (Kd = 63 +/- 9 nM) on their cell surface. Thus, the human transferrin receptor produced in insect cells is biologically active and appears suitable for structural and functional studies.     

Over-expression and characterization of recombinant beta subunit of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone synthesized in insect cells infected with a genetically engineered baculovirus.

A recombinant baculovirus, vAc beta hCG, having a replacement of the viral polyhedrin gene with the cDNA encoding the beta subunit of hCG was used to express beta hCG, an extensively glycosylated hormone, in insect cells. Virus-infected cells, 72 hr pi, secreted approximately 8.02 micrograms beta hCG/2 x 10(6) cells/ml. The recombinant beta hCG purified from insect cells exhibited increased mobility on SDS-PAGE as compared to authentic urinary beta hCG, a reflection on differences in glycosylation between insect and mammalian systems. The insect derived beta hCG, however, was identical to the native hormonal peptide in terms of immunoreactivity and bioactivity on association with alpha-subunit, as evident by its binding to rat testicular receptors and induction of steroidogenesis in a mouse Leydig cell bioassay system. The implications of using the baculovirus system to study the importance of carbohydrates for biological activity are also discussed.     

人乳头瘤病毒16型E6基因的T—A克隆及在真核细胞中的表达

由于ＨＰＶ１６Ｅ６蛋白能诱导机体保护性免疫反应,可作为基因治疗的靶抗原。用杆状病毒昆虫细胞表达系统制备了ＨＰＶ１６Ｅ６基因工程蛋白,拟用于宫颈癌细胞系小鼠模型抗癌的免疫治疗。用ＰＣＲ技术从ＨＰＶ１６基因组中扩增获得转化基因Ｅ６的完整ＯＲＦ,按ＴＡ策略将其克隆到自行制备的杆状病毒转移载体ｐＶＬ１３９３Ｔ尾载体中,置于杆状病毒ＡｃＭＮＰＶＰｏｌｈ晚期启动子控制之下,用此重组转移质粒ｐＶＬ１３９３Ｅ６与杆状病毒ＤＮＡ共转染昆虫细胞Ｓｆ９,经噬斑筛选获得带有编码Ｅ６蛋白基因的重组杆状病毒株,并在昆虫细胞Ｓｆ９中表达为非融合性Ｅ６蛋白。ＳＤＳＰＡＧＥ电泳分析其分子量约为１８ｋＤ,免疫印迹实验表明,此重组蛋白能被兔抗ＨＰＶ１６Ｅ６抗体所识别。     

Comparative study of variola virus and monkeypox virus interferon-gamma-binding

DNA fragments containing genes for coding IFN-gamma-binding proteins (IFNgammaBPs) of variola virus (VARV) and monkeypox virus (MPXV) were obtained from viral genomes using PCR. Isolated genes coding desired proteins were expressed in the insect Sf21 cells using baculovirus expression system. Secreted recombinant IFNgammaBPs were isolated from culture medium of infected Sf21 cells through affinity chromatography procedure. SDS-PAAG and Western blot analysis of culture medium of infected insect cells and preparations of purified recombinant IFNgammaBPs indicated that recombinant viral proteins were dimerized even in the absence of ligand (hIFNgamma) unlike their cell (eucaryotic) analogs. Biological activity of the recombinant IFNgammaBPs were studied in the test of protective effect inhibition of hIFNgamma on L68 cells infected with murine encephalomyocarditis virus. It was shown that recombinant IFNgammaBPs had dose-dependent IFNgamma-inhibiting activity. A possibility of the elaboration of new therapeutics for anti-hIFNgamma therapy on the base of IFNgammaBPs is discussed.     

Active human tissue plasminogen activator secreted from insect cells using a baculovirus vector

A baculovirus expression vector was constructed with the tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) cDNA under the control of the viral polyhedrin promoter. After infection of insect cells with the recombinant baculovirus, active TPA was secreted into the medium in which these cells were grown. TPA was isolated from the conditioned media using metal chelate affinity chromatography followed by immunoaffinity purification using mouse monoclonal anti-human TPA coupled to Sepharose. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions and sequence analysis of recombinant human TPA have revealed a two-chain form of the enzyme. The N-terminal amino acid was identified to be serine, indicating that it was processed at its N-terminus by the insect cell culture in a manner similar to that observed for mammalian cells. The relative specific activity of recombinant TPA from insect cells is comparable to that of Bowes melanoma TPA standard. Its activity is stimulated in the presence of fibrinogen fragments, but by a factor about 2.3-fold lower than the Bowes melanoma TPA. The apparent molecular weight of recombinant TPA from insect cells was about 60K by fibrin agar activity gels, suggesting less complex glycosylation than recombinant TPA from mammalian cells.     

Suitability and perspectives on using recombinant insect cells for the production of virus-like particles

Virus-like particles (VLPs) can be produced in recombinant protein production systems by expressing viral surface proteins that spontaneously assemble into particulate structures similar to authentic viral or subviral particles. VLPs serve as excellent platforms for the development of safe and effective vaccines and diagnostic antigens. Among various recombinant protein production systems, the baculovirus–insect cell system has been used extensively for the production of a wide variety of VLPs. This system is already employed for the manufacture of a licensed human papillomavirus-like particle vaccine. However, the baculovirus–insect cell system has several inherent limitations including contamination of VLPs with progeny baculovirus particles. Stably transformed insect cells have emerged as attractive alternatives to the baculovirus–insect cell system. Different types of VLPs, with or without an envelope and composed of either single or multiple structural proteins, have been produced in stably transformed insect cells. VLPs produced by stably transformed insect cells have successfully elicited immune responses in vivo. In some cases, the yield of VLPs attained with recombinant insect cells was comparable to, or higher than, that obtained by baculovirus-infected insect cells. Recombinant insect cells offer a promising approach to the development and production of VLPs.     

Expression of the Mouse Serotonin Receptor (5HT1c) cDNA in Cultured Insect Cells

Baculovirus-mediated cloning and expression of the mouse serotonin receptor (5HT1c) cDNA in insect cells was proposed to create an alternative to the oocyte-based system commonly employed in electrophysiological studies of ionic channels. A recombinant bacmid was constructed, and the 5HT1c cDNA was transferred into the AcNPV genome to yield a recombinant baculovirus. Infected insect Sf9 cells produced recombinant 5HT1c.     

利用杆状病毒Bac-to-Bac系统在Sf9细胞中表达真菌细胞色素P450nor

利用BactoBac杆状病毒载体表达系统将真菌细胞色素P450nor基因克隆至转移载体pFastBac1中, 得到重组质粒pFastBacP450nor, 再将其转化进入含穿梭载体Bacmid的受体菌DH10Bac中发生转座作用, 得到含P450nor基因的重组穿梭载体rBacmid pAcP450nor。分离提取重组Bacmid DNA, 并转染培养的昆虫细胞Sf9, 得到重组病毒rAcp450nor。经酶切和PCR 鉴定, 细胞色素P450nor基因正确地插入到病毒基因组的多角体蛋白基因启动子下, SDSPAGE分析证明：表达蛋白的分子量为43kD左右。Western blotting分析结果表明：有一条特定的杂交带存在, 且分子量相同（约43kD）。进一步证明了含有真菌细胞色素P450nor基因的重组表达载体和重组病毒构建成功,并在昆虫细胞Sf9中实现了高效表达, 经MTT法测定表达的细胞色素P450nor具有还原NO的生物学活性。     

Ecdysteroids increase the yield of recombinant protein produced in baculovirus insect cell expression system

Spodoptera frugiperda cells are the hosts of wild type and recombinant virus in the baculovirus insect cell expression system. The expression of the foreign gene could be enhanced by the addition of ecdysteroids and increased amount of recombinant protein was secreted into the medium. The time and concentration dependence of this effect was followed in the case of 20-hydroxyecdysone-, makisterone and ecdysone. 20-hydroxyecdysone proved to be the most efficient, producing a three fold increase in the level of recombinant protein secreted into the medium, as it was measured by ELISA. This effect was also confirmed by tracing the L-(35S)methionine incorporation into the gene product. Makisterone was also effective in stimulation, while ecdysone proved to be ineffective.