Biomanufacturing Recombinantly Expressed Cripto-1 Protein in Anchorage-Dependent Mammalian Cells Growing in Suspension Bioreactors within a Three-Dimensional Hydrogel Microcarrier.

Biotherapeutic soluble proteins that are recombinantly expressed in mammalian cells can pose a challenge when biomanufacturing in three-dimensional (3D) suspension culture systems. Herein, we tested a 3D hydrogel microcarrier for a suspension culture of HEK293 cells overexpressing recombinant Cripto-1 protein. Cripto-1 is an extracellular protein that is involved in developmental processes and has recently been reported to have therapeutic effects in alleviating muscle injury and diseases by regulating muscle regeneration through satellite cell progression toward the myogenic lineage. Cripto-overexpressing HEK293 cell lines were cultured in microcarriers made from poly (ethylene glycol)-fibrinogen (PF) hydrogels, which provided the 3D substrate for cell growth and protein production in stirred bioreactors. The PF microcarriers were designed with sufficient strength to resist hydrodynamic deterioration and biodegradation associated with suspension culture in stirred bioreactors for up to 21 days. The yield of purified Cripto-1 obtained using the 3D PF microcarriers was significantly higher than that obtained with a two-dimensional (2D) culture system. The bioactivity of the 3D-produced Cripto-1 was equivalent to commercially available Cripto-1 in terms of an ELISA binding assay, a muscle cell proliferation assay, and a myogenic differentiation assay. Taken together, these data indicate that 3D microcarriers made from PF can be combined with mammalian cell expression systems to improve the biomanufacturing of protein-based therapeutics for muscle injuries.

Pomegranate juice polyphenols induce a phenotypic switch in macrophage polarization favoring a M2 anti-inflammatory state.

It was documented that pomegranate has anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we investigated a direct effect of pomegranate juice (PJ) and its polyphenols on macrophage inflammatory phenotype. In vitro, PJ and its major polyphenols dose-dependently attenuated macrophage response to M1 proinflammatory activation in J774.A1 macrophage-like cell line. This was evidenced by a significant decrease in TNFα and IL-6 secretion in response to stimulation by IFNγ and Lipopolysaccharide. In addition, PJ and punicalagin dose-dependently promoted the macrophages toward a M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype, as determined by a significant increase in the spontaneous secretion of IL-10. In mice, supplementation with dietary PJ substantially inhibited the M2 to M1 macrophage phenotypic shift associated with age, toward a favorable anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. This effect was also reflected in the mice atherosclerotic plaques, as evaluated by the distinct expression of arginase isoforms. PJ consumption inhibited the increment of arginase II (Arg II, M1) mRNA expression during aging, and maintained the levels of Arg I (M2) expression similar to those in young mice aorta. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that pomegranate polyphenols directly suppress macrophage inflammatory responses and promote M1 to M2 switch in macrophage phenotype. Furthermore, this study indicates that PJ consumption may inhibit the progressive proinflammatory state in the aorta along atherosclerosis development with aging, due to a switch in macrophage phenotype from proinflammatory M1 to anti-inflammatory M2.