RESUMO
An expression system is described for the production of monomeric scFvs and scFv antibody fragments genetically fused to human albumin (at either the N- or C-terminus or both). Based upon strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae originally developed for the production of a recombinant human albumin (Recombumin) this system has delivered high levels of secreted product into the supernatant of shake flask and high cell density fed-batch fermentations. Specific binding to the corresponding ligand was demonstrated for each of the scFvs and scFv-albumin fusions and pharmacokinetic studies showed that the fusion products had greatly extended circulatory half-lives. The system described provides an attractive alternative to other microbial systems for the manufacture of this type of product.
Assuntos
Albuminas/metabolismo , Fusão Gênica Artificial , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Albumina Sérica/genética , Anticorpos de Cadeia Única/imunologia , Albuminas/genética , Animais , Área Sob a Curva , Reatores Biológicos , Fermentação/genética , Fluoresceína-5-Isotiocianato/metabolismo , Corantes Fluorescentes/metabolismo , Meia-Vida , Humanos , Taxa de Depuração Metabólica , Ratos , Ratos Wistar , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/biossíntese , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/imunologia , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/isolamento & purificação , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/farmacocinética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/imunologia , Albumina Sérica/metabolismo , Anticorpos de Cadeia Única/genéticaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Animal-free recombinant proteins provide a safe and effective alternative to tissue or serum-derived products for both therapeutic and biomanufacturing applications. While recombinant insulin and albumin already exist to replace their human counterparts in cell culture media, until recently there has been no equivalent for serum transferrin. RESULTS: The first microbial system for the high-level secretion of a recombinant transferrin (rTf) has been developed from Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originally engineered for the commercial production of recombinant human albumin (Novozymes' Recombumin® USP-NF) and albumin fusion proteins (Novozymes' albufuse®). A full-length non-N-linked glycosylated rTf was secreted at levels around ten-fold higher than from commonly used laboratory strains. Modification of the yeast 2 µm-based expression vector to allow overexpression of the ER chaperone, protein disulphide isomerase, further increased the secretion of rTf approximately twelve-fold in high cell density fermentation. The rTf produced was functionally equivalent to plasma-derived transferrin. CONCLUSIONS: A Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system has enabled the cGMP manufacture of an animal-free rTf for industrial cell culture application without the risk of prion and viral contamination, and provides a high-quality platform for the development of transferrin-based therapeutics.