中国仓鼠卵巢细胞表观遗传调控研究进展

中国仓鼠卵巢(Chinese hamster ovary, CHO)细胞因其具有可悬浮培养及进行蛋白质糖基化等翻译后修饰等优势,在生物制药重组蛋白生产方面具有不可替代的重要作用。但转基因沉默、表观遗传修饰等影响基因表达调控,造成CHO细胞表达稳定性降低而导致重组蛋白产量下降。本文对CHO细胞中表观遗传修饰包括DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和miRNA的作用研究,以及对基因表达调控的影响进行了综述。     

酵母糖基化改造工程研究进展

酵母真核表达系统是常用的安全性较高的外源蛋白表达系统。酵母细胞内存在翻译后糖基化修饰过程,对其糖基化修饰系统进行改造可用于生产人源糖蛋白。研究表明,可以通过基因工程手段消除酵母特有的内源糖基化反应、引入哺乳动物细胞表达系统中糖基化类型等方法对酵母糖基化路径进行改造。近年来许多研究通过对酵母菌株糖基化位点突变、基因缺失等方法对酵母糖基化系统进行改造,探究糖基化修饰对蛋白质功能的影响,这为利用酵母生产治疗性蛋白和新型糖基化疫苗提供了新的思路。本综述将对近年来酵母糖基化改造成果及研究进展进行综述。     

原核生物糖基化修饰系统及其应用前景

传统认为只有真核生物才有蛋白质糖基化修饰现象,虽然在原核生物细胞中发现糖蛋白的存在已经有数十年,但是没有引起我们足够的重视。最近,在细菌中发现了蛋白质的糖基化修饰系统,最具代表性的是空肠弯曲弧菌的N-糖基化修饰系统、脑膜炎奈瑟球菌和绿脓杆菌的O-糖基化修饰系统。这些糖基化修饰系统已成功地转移到大肠杆菌中,并且独立发挥其糖基化修饰作用。寡糖转移酶在修饰过程中起关键作用,且寡糖转移酶对糖底物的特异性要求非常低,这使得按照我们的需求来"定制糖蛋白"成为可能,并标志着"原核生物糖基工程"的到来,这将为糖结合疫苗的发展提供良好的契机。     

CHO细胞表达系统研究进展

CHO细胞表达系统是目前重组糖蛋白生产的首选系统。随着无血清悬浮培养技术、基因工程技术和大规模培养技术的应用和不断发展,CHO细胞表达系统已经成为生物技术药物最重要的表达或生产系统,并被广泛应用于抗体、重组蛋白药物和疫苗等产品的研发和生产中。近年来,针对CHO细胞表达系统在某些重组蛋白的表达和大规模生产中存在的不足,研究者们通过利用基因工程技术手段,结合重组蛋白表达机制的研究成果,为优化和应用CHO细胞表达系统做出了不懈努力。从培养基的优化、高产重组CHO细胞株的构建、大规模培养三个方面综述了CHO细胞表达系统的最近研究进展,以期为CHO细胞表达系统的研究与应用提供参考。     

构建大肠埃希菌底盘细胞合成N-糖基化蛋白的研究进展

N-糖基化是自然界中主要的翻译后修饰之一,对蛋白质结构和功能的影响十分重要。随着糖工程领域的快速发展,在大肠埃希菌(Escherichia coli)中完成治疗性蛋白的N-糖基化修饰变得更加普遍。利用基因编辑技术对大肠埃希菌基因组进行编辑,使大肠埃希菌获得新的性状和生产能力,可以提高目标糖蛋白的产量。本文综述了通过基因编辑技术改造大肠埃希菌基因组来构建大肠埃希菌底盘细胞,及在此基础上优化N-糖基化效率以提高N-糖基化蛋白产量的研究进展,为构建具有N-糖基化修饰功能的工程菌株提供依据,为更好地进行糖蛋白生产,及进一步高效开发“糖蛋白工厂”提供策略。     

蛋白质药物糖基化工程化改造研究进展

多种哺乳和非哺乳动物的蛋白质表达系统已成功用于重组糖蛋白药物的生产。糖基化对于生物药品的研究开发至关重要,对生物药品的药效、半衰期及抗原性等产生重要影响。糖基化工程的目的是生产组分明晰、结构均一的N-和O-连接的糖基化蛋白药物。N-糖基化改造的相关研究显示,利用哺乳动物和非哺乳动物表达系统可以表达均匀的N-聚糖重组糖蛋白。与N-糖基化改造相比, O-糖基化的改造研究尚处于起步阶段。首个糖基化工程单克隆抗体已在美国和日本获得上市批准。综述了重组蛋白表达系统的糖基化工程化改造的研究进展,包括蛋白质药物的 N-糖基化改造和O-糖基化改造的最新进展,以期为蛋白质药物的糖基化工程改造研究提供参考。     

蛋白质糖基化表达体系及应用

糖基化对治疗性蛋白质的溶解度、稳定性、半衰期、活性等具有重要的影响。选择合适的表达载体对蛋白质进行合适的糖基化修饰,可以大大提高治疗效果和降低毒副作用。该文主要介绍糖链对糖蛋白性质的影响,各种糖蛋白表达载体的优势和不足,并简要探讨糖基化工程在生物制药中的应用。     

不同细胞系表达的抗EGFR单抗糖基化结构对比分析

真核表达系统造就了单克隆抗体药物的广泛异质性,这些异质性通常是由翻译后修饰引起,而糖基化修饰则是关键的翻译后修饰,其对治疗性蛋白的安全性和有效性有着深远的影响,为探索细胞表达系统的改变对单抗糖基化所带来的影响,应用液相色谱-电喷雾离子化四极杆飞行时间质谱技术(LC-ESI-Q-Tof),通过交替高低碰撞能量扫描、源内诱导解离及二级质谱的方法从释放的寡聚糖水平研究聚糖结构,对比分析由两种不同细胞系制备的抗表皮生长因子受体(EGFR)单抗,然后结合外切糖苷酶逐级消化的方法对两种蛋白的糖链结构作进一步确证分析。分析结果表明,在Fc区域的糖基化修饰,两种表达系统表达的该抗体未发生明显的改变,而在Fab区域,由小鼠骨髓瘤细胞SP2/0制备的抗EGFR单抗的聚糖结构中含有大量α半乳糖(α-Gal),且末端唾液酸形式主要是N-羟乙基神经氨酸(NGNA),具有极高的免疫原性风险。而通过中国仓鼠卵巢细胞CHO表达系统制备的抗EGFR单抗Fab区域聚糖结构中不含有α-Gal,且末端唾液酸形式主要是N乙酰神经氨酸(NANA),免疫原性风险极大降低。本研究在一定程度上可以预测由CHO表达系统制备的抗EGFR单抗具备较好的临床耐受性,超敏反应发生风险低,CHO细胞可以作为该抗体改良型生物类似药(Biobetter)的优选表达系统。     

CHO细胞工程化改造的研究进展

该文综述了CHO细胞工程化改造相关研究的最新进展,对CHO细胞在调节代谢、抗凋亡和糖基化等方面的工程改造及应用进行了归纳和总结,提出了CHO表达系统应用中可能出现的问题,并对CHO细胞表达系统应用前景进行了展望,以期为后续相关研究提供思路。     

糖基转移酶和去糖基化酶

在糖基化工程中,通过酶法对蛋白质进行糖基化修饰和对天然糖蛋白去糖基化是研究糖蛋白结构与功能的重要手段。本文综述了近年来所纯化的主要的糖基化转移酶和去糖基化酶的性质和应用。     

Tetracycline-regulated overexpression of glycosyltransferases in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The glycosylation patterns of recombinant therapeutic glycoproteins can be engineered by overexpression of glycosyltransferases in the host cells used for glycoprotein production. Most prior glycosylation engineering experiments have involved constitutive expression of cloned glycosyltransferases. Here we use tetracycline-regulated expression of two glycosyltransferases, N-acetylglucosaminlytransferases III and V (GnTIII and GnTV) to manipulate glycoform biosynthesis in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and to study the effect of glycosyltransferase overexpression on this host. The amount of GnTIII and GnTV in these cells, and the glycosylation patterns of several cellular glycoproteins, could be controlled simply by manipulating the concentration of tetracycline in the culture medium. Using this system, it was found that overexpression of either GnTIII or GnTV to high levels led to growth inhibition and was toxic to the cells, indicating that this may be a general feature of glycosyltransferase overexpression. This phenomenon has not been reported previously, probably due to the widespread use of constitutive promoters, and should be taken into account when designing vectors for glycosylation engineering. The growth inhibition effect sets an upper limit to the level of glycosyltransferase overexpression, and may thereby also limit the maximum extent of in vivo modification of poorly accessible glycosylation sites. Also, such inhibition implies a bound on constitutive glycosyltransferase expression which can be cloned.     

Intact Glycopeptide Analysis of Influenza A/H1N1/09 Neuraminidase Revealing the Effects of Host and Glycosite Location on Site‐Specific Glycan Structures

Influenza H1N1 virus has posed a serious threat to human health. The glycosylation of neuraminidase (NA) could affect the infectivity and virulence of the influenza virus, but detailed site‐specific glycosylation information of NA is still missing. In this study, intact glycopeptide analysis is performed on an influenza NA (A/H1N1/California/2009) that is expressed in human 293T and insect Hi‐5 cells. The data indicate that three of four potential N‐linked glycosylation sites are glycosylated, including one partial glycosylation site from both cell lines. The NA expressed in human cells has more complex glycans than that of insect cells, suggesting the importance of selecting an appropriate expression system for the production of functional glycoproteins. Different types of glycans are identified from different glycosites of NA expressed in human cells, which implies the site‐dependence of glycosylation on NA. This study provides valuable information for the research of influenza virus as well as the functions of viral protein glycosylation.     

重组蛋白在中国仓鼠卵巢细胞中高效表达的影响因素

高效表达重组蛋白 ,对于生物制药意义重大。大多数药用蛋白是糖蛋白 ,中国仓鼠卵巢细胞 (Chinesehamsterovarycell,CHO)是目前重组糖基蛋白生产的首选体系。影响外源蛋白在CHO细胞中表达的因素很多 ,从CHO细胞表达体系、表达载体系统、外源基因、表达细胞株的加压扩增与筛选、细胞大规模培养等方面对CHO高效表达加以阐述 ,同时提出存在的问题和未来的发展方向。     

昆虫杆状病毒系统表达外源蛋白的糖基化

昆虫表达系统作为一类应用广泛的真核表达系统 ,具有与多数高等真核生物相类似的翻译后修饰的过程。但其生产的重组糖蛋白一般仅具有高甘露糖或寡甘露糖型糖链 ,难以生成复杂构型糖链成为该系统的缺陷之一。综述了目前昆虫杆状病毒系统表达外源蛋白的糖基化研究进展。     

Expression of human glycophorin A in wild type and glycosylation-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells. Role of N- and O-linked glycosylation in cell surface expression.

Glycophorin A, the most abundant sialoglycoprotein on human red blood cells, carries several medically important blood group antigens. To study the role of glycosylation in surface expression and antigenicity of this highly glycosylated protein (1 N-linked and 15 O-linked oligosaccharides), glycophorin A cDNA (M-allele) was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Both wild type CHO cells and mutant CHO cells with well defined glycosylation defects were used. Glycophorin A was well expressed on the surface of transfected wild type CHO cells. On immunoblots, the CHO cells expressed monomer (approximately 38 kDa) and dimer forms of glycophorin A which co-migrated with human red blood cell glycophorin A. The transfected cells specifically expressed the M blood group antigen when tested with mouse monoclonal antibodies. Tunicamycin treatment of these CHO cells did not block surface expression of glycophorin A, indicating that, in the presence of normal O-linked glycosylation, the N-linked oligosaccharide is not required for surface expression. To study O-linked glycosylation, glycophorin A cDNA was transfected into the Lec 2, Lec 8, and ldlD glycosylation-deficient CHO cell lines. Glycophorin A with truncated O-linked oligosaccharides was well expressed on the surface of ldlD cells (cultured in the presence of N-acetylgalactosamine alone), Lec 2 cells, and Lec 8 cells with monomers of approximately 25 kDa, approximately 33 kDa, and approximately 25 kDa, respectively. In contrast, non-O-glycosylated glycophorin A (approximately 19-kDa monomers) was poorly expressed on the surface of ldlD cells cultured in the absence of both galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine. Thus, under these conditions, in the absence of O-linked glycosylation, the N-linked oligosaccharide itself is not able to support appropriate surface expression of glycophorin A in transfected CHO cells.     

CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated gene knockout for DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a in CHO cells displays enhanced transgenic expression and long‐term stability

CHO cells are the preferred host for the production of complex pharmaceutical proteins in the biopharmaceutical industry, and genome engineering of CHO cells would benefit product yield and stability. Here, we demonstrated the efficacy of a Dnmt3a‐deficient CHO cell line created by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology through gene disruptions in Dnmt3a, which encode the proteins involved in DNA methyltransferases. The transgenes, which were driven by the 2 commonly used CMV and EF1α promoters, were evaluated for their expression level and stability. The methylation levels of CpG sites in the promoter regions and the global DNA were compared in the transfected cells. The Dnmt3a‐deficent CHO cell line based on Dnmt3a KO displayed an enhanced long‐term stability of transgene expression under the control of the CMV promoter in transfected cells in over 60 passages. Under the CMV promoter, the Dnmt3a‐deficent cell line with a high transgene expression displayed a low methylation rate in the promoter region and global DNA. Under the EF1α promoter, the Dnmt3a‐deficient and normal cell lines with low transgene expression exhibited high DNA methylation rates. These findings provide insight into cell line modification and design for improved recombinant protein production in CHO and other mammalian cells.     

The genomic sequence of the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cell line

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-derived cell lines are the preferred host cells for the production of therapeutic proteins. Here we present a draft genomic sequence of the CHO-K1 ancestral cell line. The assembly comprises 2.45 Gb of genomic sequence, with 24,383 predicted genes. We associate most of the assembled scaffolds with 21 chromosomes isolated by microfluidics to identify chromosomal locations of genes. Furthermore, we investigate genes involved in glycosylation, which affect therapeutic protein quality, and viral susceptibility genes, which are relevant to cell engineering and regulatory concerns. Homologs of most human glycosylation-associated genes are present in the CHO-K1 genome, although 141 of these homologs are not expressed under exponential growth conditions. Many important viral entry genes are also present in the genome but not expressed, which may explain the unusual viral resistance property of CHO cell lines. We discuss how the availability of this genome sequence may facilitate genome-scale science for the optimization of biopharmaceutical protein production.     

Streamlining homogeneous glycoprotein production for biophysical and structural applications by targeted cell line development

Studying the biophysical characteristics of glycosylated proteins and solving their three-dimensional structures requires homogeneous recombinant protein of high quality.We introduce here a new approach to produce glycoproteins in homogenous form with the well-established, glycosylation mutant CHO Lec3.2.8.1 cells. Using preparative cell sorting, stable, high-expressing GFP 'master' cell lines were generated that can be converted fast and reliably by targeted integration via Flp recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) to produce any glycoprotein. Small-scale transient transfection of HEK293 cells was used to identify genetically engineered constructs suitable for constructing stable cell lines. Stable cell lines expressing 10 different proteins were established. The system was validated by expression, purification, deglycosylation and crystallization of the heavily glycosylated luminal domains of lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMP).     

Ectopic expression of human mTOR increases viability, robustness, cell size, proliferation, and antibody production of chinese hamster ovary cells

Engineering of mammalian production cell lines to improve titer and quality of biopharmaceuticals is a top priority of the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry providing protein therapeutics to patients worldwide. While many engineering strategies have been successful in the past decade they were often based on the over‐expression of a single transgene and therefore limited to addressing a single bottleneck in the cell's production capacity. We provide evidence that ectopic expression of the global metabolic sensor and processing protein mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), simultaneously improves key bioprocess‐relevant characteristics of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell‐derived production cell lines such as cell growth (increased cell size and protein content), proliferation (increased cell‐cycle progression), viability (decreased apoptosis), robustness (decreased sensitivity to sub‐optimal growth factor and oxygen supplies) and specific productivity of secreted human glycoproteins. Cultivation of mTOR‐transgenic CHO‐derived cell lines engineered for secretion of a therapeutic IgG resulted in antibody titers of up to 50 pg/cell/day, which represents a four‐fold increase compared to the parental production cell line. mTOR‐based engineering of mammalian production cell lines may therefore have a promising future in biopharmaceutical manufacturing of human therapeutic proteins. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011; 108:853–866. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.