Longitudinal monitoring of cell metabolism in biopharmaceutical production using label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are routinely used in the biopharmaceutical industry for production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Although multiple offline and time-consuming measurements of spent media composition and cell viability assays are used to monitor the status of culture in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, the day-to-day changes in the cellular microenvironment need further in-depth characterization. In this study, two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (2P-FLIM) was used as a tool to directly probe into the health of CHO cells from a bioreactor, exploiting the autofluorescence of intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H), an enzymatic cofactor that determines the redox state of the cells. A custom-built multimodal microscope with two-photon FLIM capability was utilized to monitor changes in NAD(P)H fluorescence for longitudinal characterization of a changing environment during cell culture processes. Three different cell lines were cultured in 0.5 L shake flasks and 3 L bioreactors. The resulting FLIM data revealed differences in the fluorescence lifetime parameters, which were an indicator of alterations in metabolic activity. In addition, a simple principal component analysis (PCA) of these optical parameters was able to identify differences in metabolic progression of two cell lines cultured in bioreactors. Improved understanding of cell health during antibody production processes can result in better streamlining of process development, thereby improving product titer and verification of scale-up. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use FLIM as a label-free measure of cellular metabolism in a biopharmaceutically relevant and clinically important CHO cell line.     

A transient reversal of miRNA‐mediated repression controls macrophage activation

In mammalian macrophages, the expression of a number of cytokines is regulated by miRNAs. Upon macrophage activation, proinflammatory cytokine mRNAs are translated, although the expression of miRNAs targeting these mRNAs remains largely unaltered. We show that there is a transient reversal of miRNA‐mediated repression during the early phase of the inflammatory response in macrophages, which leads to the protection of cytokine mRNAs from miRNA‐mediated repression. This derepression occurs through Ago2 phosphorylation, which results in its impaired binding to miRNAs and to the corresponding target mRNAs. Macrophages expressing a mutant, non‐phosphorylatable AGO2—which remains bound to miRNAs during macrophage activation—have a weakened inflammatory response and fail to prevent parasite invasion. These findings highlight the relevance of the transient relief of miRNA repression for macrophage function.     

Surface components of HeLa cells that inhibit cytadherence of Chlamydia trachomatis

Abstract Isolated HeLa plasma membrane (PM) preparations and extracts containing either cell-surface proteins or lipids were examined for inhibition of adherence of radiolabeled Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E elementary bodies to glutaraldehydefixed HeLa monolayers. A dose-dependent adherence-inhibitory activity could be demonstrated with the PM. A urea extract as well as lipids from HeLa cells also inhibited chlamydial cytadherence. The inhibitory activity of the PM was trypsin-sensitive. It was absent when the urea extract was prepared from trypsin-treated HeLa cells. The urea extract was subjected to electrophoresis and protein blotting using a native gel system. Probing with radiolabeled chlamydial cytadhesin showed a single protein present in the urea extract that could represent a HeLa cell protein receptor for the chlamydiae.     

Differential effects of nitrogen mustard in vivo on the cancer and host cells in MCa-11 tumours

We analysed the effects of nitrogen mustard (HN₂) on the growth, cell cycle distributions, and ratios of tumour cells to host cells for MCa-11 tumours grown in vivo. Treatment of tumour-bearing BALB/c mice with 3 mg/kg of HN₂ produced a significant slowing of MCa-11 tumour growth. Seventy-two hours after treatment in vivo with either 3 or 4 mg/kg of HN₂, the host cells in the treated tumours showed a significantly decreased G₀/G₁ peak and an increased G₂/M peak (P < 0.01), whereas the cancer cells in the treated tumours showed significant increases in the G₀/G₁ peak coupled with relatively decreased proportions of S and G₂/M tumour cells (P < 0.001). The ratio of the total number of cancer cells to the total number of host cells in the tumours was significantly increased 72 h after HN₂ administration (P<0.01). Thirty-two days after treatment with HN₂, the cell cycle distributions of the host and tumour cells in the treatment and control tumours had returned to being identical, but the ratio of the total number of cancer cells to the total number of host cells remained increased in the treated tumours (P<0.01). These results show that the administration in vivo of HN₂ can lead to entirely different cell cycle effects for the host and cancer cells in the same tumour, and that the partial growth arrest of MCa-11 tumours from HN₂ treatment may be due in part to the preferential destruction of host cells rather than solely to a direct cytotoxic effect on the cancer cells.     

Polyamines of Pseudomonas acidovorans

Pseudomonas acidovorans contains putrescine, 2-hydroxyputrescine, and spermidine.     

Alteration in the metabolism of free radicals in wheat seedlings grown in the presence of 4-chloro-5-dimethylamino-2-phenyl-3(2H) pyridazinone

When wheat seedlings were grown in the presence of 62.5-500μM 4 chloro-5-dimethylamino-2-phenyl-3(2H) pyridazinone, an inhibitor of photosystem II electron transport, there was a marked inhibition of in vivo photosystem II electron transport as revealed by the analysis of fast chlorophyll a fluorescence transients in intact leaves and by the inhibition (95% at 500μM) of net photosynthesis in intact leaves Accompanying this inhibition of photosystem II electron transport, there was a decrease in the content of photosynthetic pigments. The extent of lipid peroxidation, measured in terms of malondialdehyde content was not increased; rather it was found decreased. An analysis of in vitro lipid peroxidation of the thylakoid membranes of control and 4-chloro-5-dimethylamino-2-phenyl-3(2H) pyridazinone treated plants in the presence of a sensitizer dye (toluidine blue) showed a similar rate both in the control and treated samples suggesting that the availability of unsaturated fatty acids as a substrate for lipid peroxidation was not limiting even though it decreased in the treated plants. On the other hand, it appears that the availability of the free radicals for lipid peroxidation was decreased byenhanced activity of the enzyme systems involved in the metabolism of free radicals. Measurements of the activities of enzymes involved in the metabolism of free radicals showed an increase in the activities of NADPH-glutathione reductase (6–8 fold) and catalase (15–30%) and a decrease in the activity of superoxide dismutase (30–45%) in the treated plants.