Random epigenetic modulation of CHO cells by repeated knockdown of DNA methyltransferases increases population diversity and enables sorting of cells with higher production capacities.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells produce a large share of today's biopharmaceuticals. Still, the generation of satisfactory producer cell lines is a tedious undertaking. Recently, it was found that CHO cells, when exposed to new environmental conditions, modify their epigenome, suggesting that cells adapt their gene expression pattern to handle new challenges. The major aim of the present study was to employ artificially induced, random changes in the DNA-methylation pattern of CHO cells to diversify cell populations and consequently increase the finding of cell lines with improved cellular characteristics. To achieve this, DNA methyltransferases and/or the ten-eleven translocation enzymes were downregulated by RNA interference over a time span of ∼16 days. Methylation analysis of the resulting cell pools revealed that the knockdown of DNA methyltransferases was highly effective in randomly demethylating the genome. The same approach, when applied to stable CHO producer cells resulted in (a) an increased productivity diversity in the cell population, and (b) a higher number of outliers within the population, which resulted in higher specific productivity and titer in the sorted cells. These findings suggest that epigenetics play a previously underestimated, but actually important role in defining the overall cellular behavior of production clones.

Voluhemins, new inhibitors of sterol O-acyltransferase, produced by Volutella citrinella BF-0440.

New compounds, designated voluhemins A (1) and B (2), are isolated from the culture broth of the fungal strain Volutella citrinella BF-0440 along with structurally related known NK12838 (3). Spectroscopic data, including 1D and 2D NMR, elucidated their structures. Compounds 1-3 have a common indoline-diterpene core and two additional isoprenyl moieties. Compounds 1 and 3 contain a hemiaminal unit, while 2 is O-methylated 1. Their inhibitory activities toward sterol O-acyltransferase (SOAT) 1 and 2 isozymes in SOAT1- and SOAT2-expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells show that 2 selectively inhibits the SOAT2 isozyme.

Attenuated glutamine synthetase as a selection marker in CHO cells to efficiently isolate highly productive stable cells for the production of antibodies and other biologics.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the biopharmaceutical industry's primary means of manufacturing therapeutic proteins, including monoclonal antibodies. The major challenge in cell line development for the production of recombinant biopharmaceuticals lies in generating and isolating rare high-producing stable clones, amongst thousands of low-producing or unstable clones, in a short period of time. One approach to accomplish this is to use the glutamine synthetase (GS) selection system, together with the GS inhibitor, methionine sulfoximine (MSX). However, MSX can only increase protein productivity to a limited extent. Often productivity will drop when MSX is removed from the system. We evaluated a congenital GS mutation, R324C, which causes glutamine deficiency in human as an attenuated selection marker for CHO cell line generation. We also created a panel of GS mutants with diminished GS activity. Our results demonstrated that using attenuated GS mutants as selection markers significantly increased antibody production of stably transfected pools. Furthermore, these stably transfected pools sustained high productivity levels for an extended period of time, whereas cells transfected with wild-type GS lost considerable protein productivity over time, particularly after MSX was removed. In summary, the use of attenuated GS as a selection marker in CHO cell line development bypasses the need for MSX, and generates stable clones with significantly higher antibody productivity.Abbreviations: CHO: Chinese hamster ovary; CMV: Cytomegalovirus; DHFR: Dihydrofolate reductase; GFP: Green fluorescent protein; GOI: gene-of-interest; GS: Glutamine synthetase; IRES: internal ribosomal entry site; MSX: Methionine sulfoximine; MTX: Methotrexate; psGS: pseudoGS; RVDs: Repeated variable di-residues; TALENs: transcription activator-like effector nucleases; VCD: Viable cell density; ZFNs: zinc finger nucleases.

An improved purification method for the lysosomal storage disease protein ß-glucuronidase produced in CHO cells.

Human ß-glucuronidase (GUS; EC 3.2.1.31) is a lysosomal enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of ß-d-glucuronic acid residues from the non-reducing termini of glycosaminoglycans. Impairment in GUS function leads to the metabolic disorder mucopolysaccharidosis type VII, also known as Sly syndrome. We produced GUS from a CHO cell line grown in suspension in a 15 L perfused bioreactor and developed a three step purification procedure that yields ∼99% pure enzyme with a recovery of more than 40%. The method can be completed in two days and has the potential to be integrated into a continuous manufacturing scheme.

Carboxypeptidase D is the only enzyme responsible for antibody C-terminal lysine cleavage in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

Heterogeneity of C-terminal lysine levels often observed in therapeutic monoclonal antibodies is believed to result from the proteolysis by endogenous carboxypeptidase(s) during cell culture production. Identifying the responsible carboxypeptidase(s) for C-terminal lysine cleavage in CHO cells would provide valuable insights for antibody production cell culture processes development and optimization. In this study, five carboxypeptidases, CpD, CpM, CpN, CpB, and CpE, were studied for message RNA (mRNA) expression by qRT-PCR analysis in two most commonly used blank hosts (DUXB-11 derived DHFR-deficient DP12 host and DHFR-positive CHOK1 host), used for therapeutic antibody production, as well an antibody-expressing cell line derived from each host. Our results showed that CpD had the highest mRNA expression. When CpD mRNA levels were reduced by RNAi (RNA interference) technology, C-terminal lysine levels increased, whereas there was no obvious change in C-terminal lysine levels when a different carboxypeptidase mRNA level was knocked down suggesting that carboxypeptidase D is the main contributor for C-terminal lysine processing. Most importantly, when CpD expression was knocked out by CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology, C-terminal lysine cleavage was completely abolished in CpD knockout cells based on mass spectrometry analysis, demonstrating that CpD is the only endogenous carboxypeptidase that cleaves antibody heavy chain C-terminal lysine in CHO cells. Hence, our work showed for the first time that the cleavage of antibody heavy chain C-terminal lysine is solely mediated by the carboxypeptidase D in CHO cells and our finding provides one solution to eliminating C-terminal lysine heterogeneity for therapeutic antibody production by knocking out CpD gene expression. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2100-2106. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Trace levels of the CHO host cell protease cathepsin D caused particle formation in a monoclonal antibody product.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are often used to produce therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). CHO cells express many host cell proteins (HCPs) required for their growth. Interactions of HCPs with mAbs can sometimes result in co-purification of trace levels of 'hitchhiker' HCPs during the manufacturing process. Purified mAb-1 product produced in early stages of process optimization had high HCP levels. In addition, these lots formed delayed-onset particles containing mAb-1 and its heavy chain C-terminal fragments. Studies were performed to determine the cause of the observed particle formation and to optimize the purification for improved HCP clearance. Protease activity and inhibitor stability studies confirmed that an aspartyl protease was responsible for fragmentation of mAb-1 resulting in particle formation. An affinity resin was used to selectively capture aspartyl proteases from the mAb-1 product. Mass spectrometry identified the captured aspartyl protease as CHO cathepsin D. A wash step at high pH with salt and caprylate was implemented during the protein A affinity step to disrupt the HCP-mAb interactions and improve HCP clearance. The product at the end of purification using the optimized process had very low HCP levels, did not contain detectable protease activity, and did not form particles. Spiking of CHO cathepsin D back into mAb-1 product from the optimized process confirmed that it was the cause of the particle formation. This work demonstrated that process optimization focused on removal of HCPs was successful in eliminating particle formation in the final mAb-1 product.

Changes in intracellular ATP-content of CHO cells as response to hyperosmolality.

A variety of approaches has been published to enhance specific productivity (qp) of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Changes in culture conditions, e. g. temperature shifts, sodium butyrate treatment and hyperosmolality, were shown to improve qp . To contribute to a better understanding of the correlation between hyperosmolality and enhanced qp , we analyzed cellular kinetics and intracellular adenine nucleotide pools during osmotic shift periods. Known phenotypes like increased formation rates for lactate and product (anti-IL-8 antibody; qlactate, qp) as well as increased cell specific uptake rate for glucose (qglucose ) were found--besides inhibition of cell growth and G1-arrest occurred during batch cultivations with osmotic shift. The analysis of intracellular AXP pools revealed enlarged ATP amounts for cells as response to hyperosmolality while energy charges remained unchanged. Enhanced ATP-pools coincided with severely increased ATP formation rates (qATP ) which outweighed by far the putative requirements attributed to regulatory volume increase. Therefore elevated qATP mirrored an increased cellular demand for energy while experiencing hyperosmotic shift.

Molecular polygamy: The promiscuity of l-phenylalanyl-tRNA-synthetase triggers misincorporation of meta- and ortho-tyrosine in monoclonal antibodies expressed by Chinese hamster ovary cells.

In-depth analytical characterization of biotherapeutics originating from different production batches is mandatory to ensure product safety and consistent molecule efficacy. Previously, we have shown unintended incorporation of tyrosine (Tyr) and leucine/isoleucine (Leu/Ile) at phenylalanine (Phe) positions in a recombinant produced monoclonal antibody (mAb) using an orthogonal MASCOT/SIEVE based approach for mass spectrometry data analysis. The misincorporation could be avoided by sufficient supply of phenylalanine throughout the process. Several non-annotated signals in the primarily chromatographic peptide separation step for apparently single Phe→Tyr sequence variants (SVs) suggest a role for isobar tyrosine isoforms. Meta- and ortho-Tyr are spontaneously generated during aerobic fed-batch production processes using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. Process induced meta- and ortho-Tyr but not proteinogenic para-Tyr are incorporated at Phe locations in Phe-starved CHO cultures expressing a recombinant mAb. Furthermore, meta- and ortho-Tyr are preferably misincorporated over Leu. Structural modeling of the l-phenylalanyl-tRNA-synthetase (PheRS) substrate activation site indicates a possible fit of non-cognate ortho-Tyr and meta-Tyr substrates. Dose-dependent misincorporations of Tyr isoforms support the hypothesis that meta- and ortho-Tyr are competing, alternative substrates for PheRS in CHO processes. Finally, easily accessible at-line surrogate markers for Phe→Tyr SV formation in biotherapeutic production were defined by the calculation of critical ratios for meta-Tyr/Phe and ortho-Tyr/Phe to support early prediction of SV probability, and finally, to allow for immediate process controlled Phe→Tyr SV prevention.

Co-expression of two fibrolytic enzyme genes in CHO cells and transgenic mice.

Cellulose is the main non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in plant cell walls and acts as anti-nutritional factor in animal feed. However, monogastric animals do not synthesize enzymes that cleave such plant structural polysaccharides and thus waste of resources and pollute the environment. We described the vectors construction and co-expressions of a multi-functional cellulase EGX (with the activities of exo-ß-1,4-glucanase, endo-ß-1,4-glucanase, and endo-ß-1,4-xylanase activities) from mollusca, Ampullaria crossean and a ß-glucosidase BGL1 from Asperjillus niger in CHO cells and the transgenic mice. The recombinant enzymes were synthesised, secreted by the direction of pig PSP signal peptide and functionally active in the eukaryote systems including both of CHO cells and transgenic mice by RT-PCR analysis, western blot analysis and cellulolytic enzymes activities assays. Expressions were salivary glands-specific dependent under the control of pig PSP promoter in transgenic mice. 2A peptide was used as the self-cleaving sequence to mediate co-expression of the fusion genes and the cleavage efficiency was very high both in vitro and in vivo according to the western blot analysis. In summary, we have demonstrated that the single ORF containing EGX and BGL1 were co-expressed by 2A peptide in CHO cells and transgenic mice. It presents a viable technology for efficient disruption of plant cell wall and liberation of nutrients. To our knowledge, this is the first report using 2A sequence to produce multiple cellulases in mammalian cells and transgenic animals.

Dynamic model for CHO cell engineering.

Industrial CHO cell fed-batch processes have progressed significantly over the past decade, with recombinant protein titer consistently reaching the gram per liter level. Such improvements have largely resulted from separate advances in process and cell line development. Model-based selection of targets for metabolic engineering in CHO cells is confounded by the dynamic nature of the fed-batch process. In this work, we use a dynamic model of CHO cell metabolism to simultaneously identify both process and cell modifications that improve antibody production. Model simulations explored ca. 9200 combinations of process variables (shift temperature, shift day, seed density, and harvest day) and knockdowns (8 metabolic enzymes). A comprehensive examination of a simulated solution space showed that optimal gene knockdown clearly depends on the process parameters such as temperature shift day, shift temperature, and seed density. Knockdown of enzymes related to lactate production were the most beneficial; however, depending on the process conditions, modulating such enzymes yielded varying productivities, ranging from a reduction in final titer to greater than 2-fold improvement.

Improving the efficiency of CHO cell line generation using glutamine synthetase gene knockout cells.

Although Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, with their unique characteristics, have become a major workhorse for the manufacture of therapeutic recombinant proteins, one of the major challenges in CHO cell line generation (CLG) is how to efficiently identify those rare, high-producing clones among a large population of low- and non-productive clones. It is not unusual that several hundred individual clones need to be screened for the identification of a commercial clonal cell line with acceptable productivity and growth profile making the cell line appropriate for commercial application. This inefficiency makes the process of CLG both time consuming and laborious. Currently, there are two main CHO expression systems, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)-based methotrexate (MTX) selection and glutamine synthetase (GS)-based methionine sulfoximine (MSX) selection, that have been in wide industrial use. Since selection of recombinant cell lines in the GS-CHO system is based on the balance between the expression of the GS gene introduced by the expression plasmid and the addition of the GS inhibitor, L-MSX, the expression of GS from the endogenous GS gene in parental CHOK1SV cells will likely interfere with the selection process. To study endogenous GS expression's potential impact on selection efficiency, GS-knockout CHOK1SV cell lines were generated using the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology designed to specifically target the endogenous CHO GS gene. The high efficiency (∼2%) of bi-allelic modification on the CHO GS gene supports the unique advantages of the ZFN technology, especially in CHO cells. GS enzyme function disruption was confirmed by the observation of glutamine-dependent growth of all GS-knockout cell lines. Full evaluation of the GS-knockout cell lines in a standard industrial cell culture process was performed. Bulk culture productivity improved two- to three-fold through the use of GS-knockout cells as parent cells. The selection stringency was significantly increased, as indicated by the large reduction of non-producing and low-producing cells after 25 µM L-MSX selection, and resulted in a six-fold efficiency improvement in identifying similar numbers of high-productive cell lines for a given recombinant monoclonal antibody. The potential impact of GS-knockout cells on recombinant protein quality is also discussed.

Fragmentation of a highly purified monoclonal antibody attributed to residual CHO cell protease activity.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) fragmentation can be a widespread problem across the biotechnology industry and there is a current need to better understand the underlying principles. Here, we report an example of a high-purity human IgG1 mAb prepared from CHO cells exhibiting fragmentation that can be attributed to residual proteolytic enzyme activity. The concomitant occurrence of proteolytic and non-proteolytic peptide bond cleavage is shown and the respective fragmentation patterns characterized using high-resolution LC-MS. Fragmentation rates are monitored by SE-HPLC and SDS-PAGE over the pH range 4-6 and characterized in the presence and absence of pepstatin A, an inhibitor of acidic proteases. After 20 days at 40°C, pH 4, ∼60% decrease in BIIB-mAb monomer peak occurred attributed to residual proteolytic activity. At pH 5, this value was ∼13%. These results have implications for formulation design studies and the interpretation of accelerated stability data. A simple method to screen for acidic protease activity using the proteolytic enzyme inhibitor pepstatin A is described.

Selection for methotrexate resistance in mammalian cells bearing a Drosophila dihydrofolate reductase transgene: Methotrexate resistance in transgenic mammalian cells.

Antifolates, such as methotrexate (MTX), are the treatment of choice for numerous cancers. MTX inhibits dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), which is essential for cell growth and proliferation. Mammalian cells can acquire resistance to antifolate treatment through a variety of mechanisms but decreased antifolate titers due to changes in drug efflux or influx, or alternatively, the amplification of the DHFR gene are the most commonly acquired resistance mechanisms. In Drosophila, however, a resistant phenotype has only been observed to occur by mutation resulting in a MTX-resistant DHFR. It is unclear if differences in gene structure and/or genome organization between Drosophila and mammals contribute to the observed differences in acquired drug resistance. To investigate if gene structure is involved, Drosophila Dhfr cDNA was transfected into a line of CHO cells that do not express endogenous DHFR. These transgenic cells, together with wild-type CHO cells, were selected for 19 months for resistance to increasing concentrations of MTX, from 50- to 200-fold over the initial concentration. Since Drosophila Dhfr appears to have been amplified several fold in the selected transgenic mammalian cells, a difference in genome organization may contribute to the mechanism of MTX resistance.

Birth prevalence of homocystinuria in Central Europe: frequency and pathogenicity of mutation c.1105C>T (p.R369C) in the cystathionine beta-synthase gene.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the frequency of the cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency caused by c.1105C>T mutation in Central Europe compared to Norway, and to examine the pathogenicity of the corresponding p.R369C mutant enzyme. STUDY DESIGN: Mutation c.1105C>T was analyzed in 600 anonymous Czech newborn blood spots. Catalytic activity and quaternary structure of the p.R369C mutant was evaluated after expression in 2 cellular systems. RESULTS: Population frequency of the c.1105C>T mutation was 0.005, predicting the birth prevalence of homocystinuria of 1:40000, which increased to 1:15500 in a model including 10 additional mutations. In Escherichia coli the p.R369C mutant misfolded, and its activity was severely reduced, and expression in Chinese hamster ovary cells enabled proper folding with activity decreased to 63% of the wild-type enzyme. This decreased activity was not due to impaired K(m) for both substrates but resulted from V(max) lowered to 55% of the normal cystathionine beta-synthase enzyme. CONCLUSIONS: The c.1105C>T (p.R369C) allele is common also in the Czech population. Although the p.R369C mutation impairs folding and decreases velocity of the enzymatic reaction, our data are congruent with rather mild clinical phenotype in homozygotes or compound heterozygotes carrying this mutation.

Biallelic gene knockouts in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most common host cells and are widely used in the manufacture of approved recombinant therapeutics. They represent a major new class of universal hosts in biopharmaceutical production. However, there remains room for improvement to create more ideal host cells that can add greater value to therapeutic recombinant proteins at reduced production cost. A promising approach to this goal is biallelic gene knockout in CHO cells, as it is the most reliable and effective means to permanent phenotypic change, owing to the complete removal of gene function. In this chapter, we describe a biallelic gene knockout process in CHO cells, as exemplified by the successful targeted disruption of both FUT8 alleles encoding alpha-1,6-fucosyltransferase gene in CHO/DG44 cells. Wild-type alleles are sequentially disrupted by homologous recombination using two targeting vectors to generate homozygous disruptants, and the drug-resistance gene cassettes remaining on the alleles are removed by a Cre/loxP recombination system so as not to leave the extraphenotype except for the functional loss of the gene of interest.

DNA-PKcs-dependent modulation of cellular radiosensitivity by a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor.

PURPOSE: Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 has been shown to increase radiosensitivity. Recently, the suppression of radiation-induced DNA-dependant protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity by the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib was reported. Given the importance of DNA-PK for repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end-joining and the clinical use of the substance, we investigated the relevance of the DNA-PK catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) for the modulation of cellular radiosensitivity by celecoxib. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We used a syngeneic model of Chinese hamster ovarian cell lines: AA8, possessing a wild-type DNK-PKcs; V3, lacking a functional DNA-PKcs; and V3/WT11, V3 stably transfected with the DNA-PKcs. The cells were treated with celecoxib (50 muM) for 24 h before irradiation. The modulation of radiosensitivity was determined using the colony formation assay. RESULTS: Treatment with celecoxib increased the cellular radiosensitivity in the DNA-PKcs-deficient cell line V3 with a dose-enhancement ratio of 1.3 for a surviving fraction of 0.5. In contrast, clonogenic survival was increased in DNA-PKcs wild-type-expressing AA8 cells and in V3 cells transfected with DNA-PKcs (V3/WT11). The decrease in radiosensitivity was comparable to the radiosensitization in V3 cells, with a dose-enhancement ratio of 0.76 (AA8) and 0.80 (V3/WT11) for a survival of 0.5. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated a DNA-PKcs-dependent differential modulation of cellular radiosensitivity by celecoxib. These effects might be attributed to alterations in signaling cascades downstream of DNA-PK toward cell survival. These findings offer an explanation for the poor outcomes in some recently published clinical trials.

Functionality of the seventh and eighth transmembrane domains of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 1.

Acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 (ACAT1) is a resident enzyme in the endoplasmic reticulum. ACAT1 is a homotetrameric protein and contains nine transmembrane domains (TMDs). His460 is a key active residue and is located within TMD7. Human ACAT1 has seven free Cys, but the recombinant ACAT1 devoid of free Cys retains full enzyme activity. To further probe the functionality of TMD7 (amino acids 446-460) and TMD8 (amino acids 466-481), we used a parental ACAT1 devoid of free Cys as the template to perform Cys-scanning mutagenesis within these regions. Each of the single Cys mutants was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line AC29 lacking endogenous ACAT1. We measured the effect of single Cys substitution on enzyme activity and used the Cu(1,10-phenanthroline)2SO4-mediated disulfide cross-linking method to probe possible interactions of engineered Cys between the two identical subunits. The results show that several residues in one subunit closely interact with the same residues in the other subunit; mutating these residues to Cys does not lead to large loss in enzyme activity. Helical wheel analysis suggests that these residues are located at one side of the coil. In contrast, mutating residues F453, A457, or H460 to Cys causes large loss in enzyme activity; the latter residues are located at the opposite side of the coil. A similar arrangement is found for residues in TMD8. Thus, helical coils in TMD7 and TMD8 have two distinct functional sides: one side is involved in substrate-binding/catalysis, while the other side is involved in subunit interaction.

2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo-[4,5-f]quinoxaline-induced DNA adduct formation and mutagenesis in DNA repair-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing human cytochrome P4501A1 and rapid or slow acetylator N-acetyltransferase 2.

2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo-[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) is one of the most potent and abundant mutagens in the western diet. Bioactivation includes N-hydroxylation catalyzed by cytochrome P450s followed by O-acetylation catalyzed by N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2). In humans, NAT2*4 allele is associated with rapid acetylator phenotype, whereas NAT2*5B allele is associated with slow acetylator phenotype. We hypothesized that rapid acetylator phenotype predisposes humans to DNA damage and mutagenesis from MeIQx. Nucleotide excision repair-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells were constructed by stable transfection of human cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and a single copy of either NAT2*4 (rapid acetylator) or NAT2*5B (slow acetylator) alleles. CYP1A1 and NAT2 catalytic activities were undetectable in untransfected Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. CYP1A1 activity did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) among the CYP1A1-transfected cell lines. Cells transfected with NAT2*4 had 20-fold significantly higher levels of sulfamethazine N-acetyltransferase (P = 0.0001) and 6-fold higher levels of N-hydroxy-MeIQx O-acetyltransferase (P = 0.0093) catalytic activity than cells transfected with NAT2*5B. Only cells transfected with both CYP1A1 and NAT2*4 showed concentration-dependent cytotoxicity and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase mutagenesis following MeIQx treatment. Deoxyguanosine-C8-MeIQx was the primary DNA adduct formed and levels were dose dependent in each cell line and in the following order: untransfected < transfected with CYP1A1 < transfected with CYP1A1 and NAT2*5B < transfected with CYP1A1 and NAT2*4. MeIQx DNA adduct levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in CYP1A1/NAT2*4 than CYP1A1/NAT2*5B cells at all concentrations of MeIQx tested. MeIQx-induced DNA adduct levels correlated very highly (r2 = 0.88) with MeIQx-induced mutants. These results strongly support extrahepatic activation of MeIQx by CYP1A1 and a robust effect of human NAT2 genetic polymorphism on MeIQx-induced DNA adducts and mutagenesis. The results provide laboratory-based support for epidemiologic studies reporting higher frequency of heterocyclic amine-related cancers in rapid NAT2 acetylators.

Biological characteristics of Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with bovine Prnp.

A normal prion protein (PrPc) is converted to a proteaseresistant isoform by an apparent self-propagating activity in transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease. The cDNA encoding open reading frame (ORF) of the bovine prion protein gene (Prnp) was cloned from Korean cattle by PCR, and was transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells using lipofectamine. The gene expression of the cloned cDNA was confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blotting with the monoclonal antibody, 6H4. Cellular changes in the transfected CHO-K1 cells were investigated using parameters such as MTT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, as well as nitric oxide (NO) production, and an apoptosis assay. In the MTT and LDH assays, the bovine PrnP-transfectant showed a lower proliferation rate than the wild-type (p < 0.05). Production of NO, after LPS or ConA stimulation, was not detected in either transfectants or CHO-K1 cells. In SOD assay under ConA stimulation, the SOD activity of transfectants was 10 times higher than that of CHO-K1 cells at 6 h after treatment (p < 0.05). The genomic DNA of both the transfectants and control cells began to be fragmented at 6 h after treatment with cyclohexamide. Caspase-3 activity was reduced by transfection with the bovine Prnp (p < 0.05). Conclusively, the viability of transfectants expressing exogenous bovine Prnp was decreased while the capacities for cellular protection against antioxidative stress and apoptosis were increased.

Proteome analysis of antibody-producing CHO cell lines with different metabolic profiles.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry were used to identify proteins associated with a metabolic shift during fed-batch cultures of two recombinant antibody-producing CHO cell lines. The first cell line underwent a marked change in lactate metabolism during culture, initially producing lactate and then consuming it, while the second cell line produced lactate for a similar duration but did not later consume it. The first cell line displayed a declining specific antibody productivity during culture, correlating to the 2-D gel results and the intracellular antibody concentration determined by HPLC. Several statistical analysis methods were compared during this work, including a fixed fold-change criterion and t-tests using standard deviations determined in several ways from the raw data and mathematically transformed data. Application of a variance-stabilizing transformation enabled the use of a global empirical standard deviation in the t-tests. Most of the protein spots changing in each cell line did not change significantly in the other cell line. A substantial fraction of the changing proteins were glycolytic enzymes; others included proteins related to antibody production, protein processing, and cell structure. Enolase, pyruvate kinase, BiP/GRP78, and protein disulfide isomerase were found in spots that changed over time in both cell lines, and some protein changes differed from previous reports. These data provide a foundation for future investigation of metabolism in industrially relevant mammalian cell culture processes, and suggest that along with differences between cell types, the proteins expressed in cultures with low lactate concentrations may depend on how those conditions were generated.