Mapping the molecular basis for growth related phenotypes in industrial producer CHO cell lines using differential proteomic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The ability to achieve high peak viable cell density earlier in CHO cell culture and maintain an extended cell viability throughout the production process is highly desirable to increase recombinant protein yields, reduce host cell impurities for downstream processing and reduce the cost of goods. In this study we implemented label-free LC-MS/MS proteomic profiling of IgG4 producing CHO cell lines throughout the duration of the cell culture to identify differentially expressed (DE) proteins and intracellular pathways associated with the high peak viable cell density (VCD) and extended culture VCD phenotypes. RESULTS: We identified key pathways in DNA replication, mitotic cell cycle and evasion of p53 mediated apoptosis in high peak VCD clonally derived cell lines (CDCLs). ER to Golgi vesicle mediated transport was found to be highly expressed in extended culture VCD CDCLs while networks involving endocytosis and oxidative stress response were significantly downregulated. CONCLUSION: This investigation highlights key pathways for targeted engineering to generate desirable CHO cell phenotypes for biotherapeutic production.

Investigating the influence of physiologically relevant hydrostatic pressure on CHO cell batch culture.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been the most commonly used mammalian host for large-scale commercial production of therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies. Enhancement of productivity of these CHO cells is one of the top priorities in the biopharmaceutical industry to reduce manufacturing cost. Although there are many different methods (e.g. temperature, pH, feed) to improve protein production in CHO cells, the role of physiologically relevant hydrostatic pressure in CHO cell culture has not been reported yet. In this study, four different hydrostatic pressures (0, 30, 60, and 90 mmHg) were applied to batch CHO cells, and their cell growth/metabolism and IgG1 production were examined. Our results indicate that hydrostatic pressure can increase the maximum cell concentration by up to 50%. Moreover, overall IgG1 concentration on Day 5 showed that 30 mmHg pressure can increase IgG1 production by 26%. The percentage of non-disulphide-linked antibody aggregates had no significant change under pressure. Besides, no significant difference was observed between 30 mmHg and no pressure conditions in terms of cell clumping formation. All these findings are important for the optimization of fed-batch or perfusion culture for directing cell growth and improving antibody production.

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.

Quantification of the dynamics of population heterogeneities in CHO cultures with stably integrated fluorescent markers.

Cell population heterogeneities and their changes in mammalian cell culture processes are still not well characterized. In this study, the formation and dynamics of cell population heterogeneities were investigated with flow cytometry and stably integrated fluorescent markers based on the lentiviral gene ontology (LeGO) vector system. To achieve this, antibody-producing CHO cells were transduced with different LeGO vectors to stably express single or multiple fluorescent proteins. This enables the tracking of the transduced populations and is discussed in two case studies from the field of bioprocess engineering: In case study I, cells were co-transduced to express red, green, and blue fluorescent proteins and the development of sub-populations and expression heterogeneities were investigated in high passage cultivations (total 130 days). The formation of a fast-growing and more productive population was observed with a simultaneous increase in cell density and product titer. In case study II, different preculture growth phases and their influence on the population dynamics were investigated in mixed batch cultures with flow cytometry (offline and automated). Four cell line derivatives, each expressing a different fluorescent protein, were generated and cultivated for different time intervals, corresponding to different growth phases. Mixed cultures were inoculated from them, and changes in the composition of the cell populations were observed during the first 48 h of cultivation with reduced process productivity. In summary, we showed how the dynamics of population heterogeneities can be characterized. This represents a novel approach to investigate the dynamics of cell population heterogeneities under near-physiological conditions with changing productivity in mammalian cell culture processes.

Characterization of Chinese hamster ovary cells with disparate chromosome numbers: Reduction of the amount of mRNA relative to total protein.

Chromosomes in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are labile. We have shown that high-chromosome-number CHO cells have greater potential to become robust producers of recombinant proteins. One explanation being the increase in transgene integration sites. However, high-chromosome-number cell clones produce more IgG3 following culture of single-cell clones, even under conditions that yield the same number of integrations as cells with normal chromosome numbers. Here, we characterized high-chromosome-number cells by transcriptome analysis. RNA standards were used to normalize transcriptomes of cells that had different chromosome numbers. Our results demonstrate that the mRNA ratio of ß-actin and many other genes in high-chromosome-number cells to that in normal-chromosome-number cells per cell (normalized to RNA standards) was smaller than the equivalent genomic size and cell volume ratios. Many genes encoding membrane proteins are more highly expressed in high-chromosome-number cells, probably due to differences in cell size caused by the increase in chromosomes. In addition, genes related to histone modification and lipid metabolism are differentially expressed. The reduced transcript level required per protein produced in total and the different intracellular signal transductions might be key factors for antibody production.

Progression of change in membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity of cells during controlled starvation using dual-frequency DEP cytometry.

The dielectric properties of cells are directly related to their morphological and physiological properties and can be used to monitor their status when exposed to stress conditions. In this work, dual-frequency dielectrophoresis (DEP) cytometry was employed to measure changes in the membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity of single Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells during the progression of starvation-induced apoptosis. Our dual-frequency DEP cytometer enables simultaneous measurement of multiple dielectric properties of single cells and identification of their state (viable or apoptotic) within a heterogeneous sample. We employed one frequency to determine each cell's viability state and the other frequency to characterize the change in membrane capacitance or cytoplasm conductivity. Cells were starved by incubation in a medium lacking glucose and glutamine and monitored every 12 h over a 64 h period. Our results showed a subpopulation of early apoptotic cells emerged after 40 h in the starvation medium, which rapidly increased during the next 12 h. After 52 h, a complete transition from viable to apoptotic state was observed. Analyzing the subpopulation of viable cells over the first 52 h showed that the membrane capacitance gradually declined from an initial value of 2.0 to 1.2 µF/cm2, and was 0.9 µF/cm2 for apoptotic cells. The cytoplasm conductivity of viable cells initially remained constant and then declined from 0.40 to 0.27 S/m after 40 h, coinciding with onset of apoptotic processes. A dramatic decrease in cytoplasm conductivity from 0.27 to 0.07 S/m was observed after 52 h, corresponding to apoptotic cells. As membrane capacitance is related to membrane morphology and cytoplasm conductivity is related to intracellular ion concentrations, the results indicate that during controlled starvation the cell membrane smooths gradually whereas intracellular ion concentrations are initially maintained near homeostatic levels until a later dramatic decline occurs.

Semi-continuous scale-down models for clone and operating parameter screening in perfusion bioreactors.

Perfusion cell culture, confined traditionally to the production of fragile molecules, is currently gaining broader attention in the biomanufacturing of therapeutic proteins. The development of these processes is made difficult by the limited availability of appropriate scale-down models. This is due to the continuous operation that requires complex control and cell retention capacity. For example, the determination of an optimal perfusion and bleed rate for continuous cell culture is often performed in scale-down bioreactors and requires a substantial amount of time and effort. To increase the experimental throughput and decrease the required workload, a semi-continuous procedure, referred to as the VCDmax (viable cell density) approach, has been developed on the basis of shake tubes (ST) and deepwell plates (96-DWP). Its effectiveness has been demonstrated for 12 different CHO-K1-SV cell lines expressing an IgG1. Further, its reliability has been investigated through proper comparisons with perfusion runs in lab-scale bioreactors. It was found that the volumetric productivity and the CSPRmin (cell specific perfusion rate) determined using the ST and 96-DWP models were successfully (mostly within the experimental error) confirmed in lab-scale bioreactors, which then covered a significant scale-up from the half milliliter to the liter scale. These scale-down models are very useful to design and scale-up optimal bioreactor operating conditions as well as screening for different media and cell lines.

Case study: The characterization and implementation of dielectric spectroscopy (biocapacitance) for process control in a commercial GMP CHO manufacturing process.

Dielectric spectroscopy (biocapacitance) is an up-and-coming technology for real time monitoring of biomass in cell culture processes and has opened the door for next-generation cell culture process control techniques such as automated on-demand nutrient feeding. In this case study we empirically demonstrate the lower limit of quantitation (LOQ), probe-to-probe consistency, and scalability of in situ biocapacitance probes using data generated from small- and large-scale Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) bioreactor cultures. The process understanding experiments culminated in the use of biocapacitance for process control in the current good manufacturing practices (GMP) manufacturing environment, first to automate the dilution of seed train cultures during scale-up stages and later as a method of predicting future glucose demand. The automated biomass-probe-based inoculation strategy yielded consistent results in six consecutive seed trains in the GMP manufacturing suite. In the process of improving our understanding of the technology we determined that biocapacitance could additionally be used as an indicator of a shift in the salt balance of a cell culture, and that collecting real time biomass data via biocapacitance has the potential to reduce the total timeline for feed strategy development by providing additional insights into culture performance which are not otherwise apparent using conventional optical cell counting methods.

Characterization of cellular states of CHO-K1 suspension cell culture through cell cycle and RNA-sequencing profiling.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) derived cell lines are the preferred host system for the production of therapeutic proteins. The aim of this work was to explore the regulation of suspension-adapted CHO-K1 host cell line bioprocesses, especially under a temperature gradient from 37 °C to 31 °C. We analyzed cell cycle behavior through flow cytometry of propidium iodide stained cells and high throughput transcriptome dynamics by RNA sequencing. We found a cell culture state characterized by G0/G1 synchronization, mainly during the late exponential growth phase and towards the last days of the stationary phase. We successfully identified key genes and pathways connected with the particular culture states, such as response to low temperature, modulation of the cell cycle, regulation of DNA replication and repair, apoptosis, among others. The most important gene expression changes occurred throughout the stationary phase when gene up-regulation markedly prevailed. Our RNA-seq data analysis enabled the identification of target genes for mechanism-based cell line engineering and bioprocess modification, an essential step to translate gene expression data from CHO-K1 host cells into bioprocess-related knowledge. Further efforts aim at increasing desirable phenotypes of CHO cells, and promoting efficient production of high quality therapeutic proteins can highly benefit from this type of studies.

Physiological responses of Chinese hamster ovary cells to a productivity-enhancing yeast extract.

Hydrolysates play important roles in enhancing the productivity of recombinant proteins in mammalian cell cultures. Lacking of detailed understanding of the mechanisms, hydrolysate is commonly regarded as an unstable factor which should be used with cautions. A yeast extract (YE) was approved to improve the Fc-fusion protein productivity in a recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. To elucidate the responses of cells to hydrolysates, we further elaborate their physiological changes during the processes in the presence and absence of YE. Firstly, cell sizes and the cellular components including dry cell weight, cellular fatty acid, and total cellular protein were increased in the presence of YE. Then, by comparing the extracellular and intracellular concentrations of the main metabolites and their consumption rates, we excluded the possibility of nutrient depletion in the absence of YE and observed a distinct improvement on the net consumption rates of metabolites in the presence of YE. Furthermore, the increase on the contents of intracellular nucleotides illustrated an abundance of the nucleic acid precursors and energy charge for recombinant protein synthesis in the presence of YE. In conclusion, this study systematically elucidated YE enhanced cell mass and capacity, activated substrate and energy metabolism of cells in addition to a boost in product synthesis process. The findings provide valuable information for process optimization and cell engineering.

Role of membrane cholesterol in differential sensitivity of muscarinic receptor subtypes to persistently bound xanomeline.

Xanomeline (3-(Hexyloxy)-4-(1-methyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-3-yl)-1,2,5-thiadiazole) is a muscarinic agonist that is considered to be functionally selective for the M1/M4 receptor subtypes. Part of xanomeline binding is resistant to washing. Wash-resistant xanomeline activates muscarinic receptors persistently, except for the M5 subtype. Mutation of leucine 6.46 to isoleucine at M1 or M4 receptors abolished persistent activation by wash-resistant xanomeline. Reciprocal mutation of isoleucine 6.46 to leucine at the M5 receptor made it sensitive to activation by wash-resistant xanomeline. Lowering of membrane cholesterol made M1 and M4 mutants and M5 wild type receptors sensitive to activation by wash-resistant xanomeline. Molecular docking revealed a cholesterol binding site in the groove between transmembrane helices 6 and 7. Molecular dynamics showed that interaction of cholesterol with this binding site attenuates receptor activation. We hypothesize that differences in cholesterol binding to this site between muscarinic receptor subtypes may constitute the basis for xanomeline apparent functional selectivity and may have notable therapeutic implications. Differences in receptor-membrane interactions, rather than in agonist-receptor interactions, represent a novel possibility to achieve pharmacological selectivity. Our findings may be applicable to other G protein coupled receptors.

Short- and long-term effects on mAb-producing CHO cell lines after cryopreservation.

Cryopreservation provides the foundation for research, development, and manufacturing operations in the CHO-based biopharmaceutical industry. Despite its criticality, studies are lacking that explicitly demonstrate that the routine cell banking process and the potential stress and damage during cryopreservation and recovery from thaw have no lasting detrimental effects on CHO cells. Statistics are also scarce on the decline of cell-specific productivity (Qp ) over time for recombinant CHO cells developed using the glutamine synthetase (GS)-based methionine sulfoximine (MSX) selection system. To address these gaps, we evaluated the impact of freeze-thaw on 24 recombinant CHO cell lines (generated by the GS/MSX selection system) using a series of production culture assays. Across the panel of cell lines expressing one of three monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), freeze-thaw did not result in any significant impact beyond the initial post-thaw passages. Production cultures sourced from cryopreserved cells and their non-cryopreserved counterparts yielded similar performance (growth, viability, and productivity), product quality (size, charge, and glycosylation distributions), and flow cytometric profiles (intracellular mAb expression). However, many production cultures yielded lower Qp at increased cell age: 17 of the 24 cell lines displayed ≥20% Qp decline after ∼2-3 months of passaging, irrespective of whether the cells were previously cryopreserved. The frequency of Qp decline underscores the continued need for understanding the underlying mechanisms and for careful clone selection. Because our experiments were designed to decouple the effects of cryopreservation from those of cell age, we could conclusively rule out freeze-thaw as a cause for Qp decline. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:463-477, 2018.

Real-time monitoring of antibody glycosylation site occupancy by in situ Raman spectroscopy during bioreactor CHO cell cultures.

The glycosylation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), a known critical quality attribute, is often greatly modified during the production process by animal cells. It is essential for biopharmaceutical industries to monitor and control this glycosylation. However, current glycosylation characterization techniques involve time- and labor-intensive analyses, often carried out at the end of the culture when the product is already synthesized. This study proposes a novel methodology for real-time monitoring of antibody glycosylation site occupancy using Raman spectroscopy. It was first observed in CHO cell batch culture that when low nutrient concentrations were reached, a decrease in mAb glycosylation was induced, which made it essential to rapidly detect this loss of product quality. By combining in situ Raman spectroscopy with chemometric tools, efficient prediction models were then developed for both glycosylated and nonglycosylated mAbs. By comparing variable importance in projection profiles of the prediction models, it was confirmed that Raman spectroscopy is a powerful method to distinguish extremely similar molecules, despite the high complexity of the culture medium. Finally, the Raman prediction models were used to monitor batch and feed-harvest cultures in situ. For the first time, it was demonstrated that the concentrations of glycosylated and nonglycosylated mAbs could be successfully and simultaneously estimated in real time with high accuracy, including their sudden variations due to medium exchanges. Raman spectroscopy can thus be considered as a promising PAT tool for feedback process control dedicated to on-line optimization of mAb quality. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:486-493, 2018.

Workflow for Target-Oriented Parametrization of an Enhanced Mechanistic Cell Culture Model.

The goal of this study is to develop a macroscopic mechanistic model describing growth and production within fed-batch cultivations of CHO cells. The model should be used for process characterization as well as for process monitoring including real-time parameter adaptations. The model proved to be able to describe a data-set of 40 processes differing in clones, scales, and process conditions with a normalized root mean square error of approximately 10%. However, due to limited parameter identifiability and limited knowledge about physiologically meaningful parameter values, a broad range of parameters could describe the data with similar quality. This hampered comparison of the model parameters as well as their real-time estimation. Therefore an iterative workflow combining techniques like sensitivity and identifiability analysis, analysis of the specific rates as well as structural adaptations of the parameter space is developed. By applying it the parameter variability could be reduced by 80% with similar predictive power as the original parameters. Summing up, based on a mechanistic CHO model, a generic and transferrable workflow is created for target-oriented parameter estimation in case of limited parameter identifiability. Finally, we suggest a methodology, which fits ideally into the frame of Process Analytical Technology aiming to increase process understanding.

The relationship of metabolic burden to productivity levels in CHO cell lines.

The growing demand for recombinant therapeutics has driven biotechnologists to develop new production strategies. One such strategy for increasing the expression of heterologous proteins has focused on enhancing cell-specific productivity through environmental perturbations. In this work, the effects of hypothermia, hyperosmolarity, high shear stress, and sodium butyrate treatment on growth and productivity were studied using three (low, medium, and high producing) CHO cell lines that differed in their specific productivities of monoclonal antibody. In all three cell lines, the inhibitory effect of these parameters on proliferation was demonstrated. Additionally, compared to the control, specific productivity was enhanced under all conditions and exhibited a consistent cell line specific pattern, with maximum increases (50-290%) in the low producer, and minimum increases (7-20%) in the high producer. Thus, the high-producing cell line was less responsive to environmental perturbations than the low-producing cell line. We hypothesize that this difference is most likely due to the bottleneck associated with a higher metabolic burden caused by higher antibody expression. Increased recombinant mRNA levels and pyruvate carboxylase activities due to low temperature and hyperosmotic stress were found to be positively associated with the metabolic burden.

Produção da proteína recombinante humana TGF-ß1 (fator do crescimento transformante beta 1) em células de mamífero / Production of recombinant human protein TGF-ß1 (Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1) in mammalian cells

O fator de crescimento transformante beta tipo 1, TGF-ß1, é uma proteína extracelular homodimérica secretada por vários tipos celulares, que pode ter ação parácrina ou endócrina. Essa proteína está envolvida em processos celulares de diferenciação, proliferação, mobilidade e formação de matriz extracelular. Além disso, é parte importante dos processos de regeneração tecidual, atuando, de maneira decisiva, no reparo, atraindo macrófagos e fibroblastos para o local da injúria e estimulando a angiogênese. Assim, considerando o papel desse peptídeo no processo regenerativo, o uso de TGF-ß1 como proteína terapêutica na área de Bioengenharia Tecidual é bastante promissor. Apesar disso, a venda dessa proteína, para fins terapêuticos, é inexistente no mercado e a proteína recombinante vendida, que só pode ser utilizada em pesquisas científicas, não é produzida nacionalmente e chega a custar R$200.000,00/mg. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é desenvolver uma metodologia de produção do fator recombinante TGF-ß1 em células de ovário de hamster chinês (CHO), visando à obtenção de níveis altos de rendimento, e, futuramente, a transferência da tecnologia de produção para a iniciativa privada, tornando possível seu uso na Medicina Regenerativa, sozinho ou em combinação com outros fatores de crescimento. O cDNA de TGF-ß1 foi amplificado a partir de um banco de cDNA humano e clonado no vetor proprietário pNU1 de expressão de mamífero. A construção pNU1/TGF-ß1 foi utilizada para transfectar estavelmente células CHO DG44 e uma estratégia de co-amplificação foi utilizada para selecionar células transfectantes com maior número de cópias da sequência correspondente a TGF-ß1. Estas culturas foram submetidas ao processo de amplificação gênica com concentrações crescentes de metotrexato. Ensaios de Western Blot e ELISA foram realizados utilizando-se o meio condicionado pelas populações selecionadas e por clones superprodutores. Entre os 41clones obtidos, cinco apresentaram maiores níveis de produção de TGF-ß1, entre 1.000 e 2.000 ng/mL. Estes clones foram selecionados para a realização de testes de atividade in vitro utilizando-se células A549, que permitem avaliar a transição epitélio-mesênquima. Um ensaio de cicatrização de feridas em peles do dorso de camundongos foi padronizado e utilizado para avaliar a atividade in vivo do clone que apresentou melhor resultado in vitro. A proteína TGF-ß1 foi parcialmente purificada por HPLC em uma coluna de afinidade. Portanto, a proteína TGF-ß1 humana recombinante foi produzida, apresentando atividade biológica in vitro e in vivo, sendo capaz de reparar eficientemente feridas cutâneas. Essa iniciativa pode oferecer aos pacientes uma alternativa para o tratamento de lesões teciduais, acelerando a cicatrização de feridas e o reparo de tecidos

The transforming growth factor beta 1, TGF-ß1, is a homodimeric extracellular protein secreted by several cell types, which may have paracrine or endocrine action. This protein is involved in cellular processes of differentiation, proliferation, mobility and formation of extracellular matrix. In addition, it is an important part of the tissue regeneration processes, acting decisively on repair, attracting macrophages and fibroblasts to the site of injury and stimulating angiogenesis. Therefore, considering the role of this peptide in the regenerative process and the use of TGF-ß1 as a therapeutic protein in the field of Tissue Bioengineering is very promising. Despite this, the sale of this protein for therapeutic purposes is nonexistent in the market and the recombinant protein available in the market, which can only be used in scientific research, is not produced nationally and the costs are in the order of R$ 200,000.00/mg. In this context, the objective of the present work is to develop a methodology for the production of the TGF-ß1 recombinant factor in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, aiming at obtaining high yields, and, in the future, transfering the production technology to the private initiative, allowing its use in Regenerative Medicine, alone or in combination with other growth factors. The TGF-ß1 cDNA was amplified from a human cDNA library and cloned into the proprietary pNU1 mammalian expression vector. The pNU1/TGF-ß1 construct was used to stably transfect CHO DG44 cells, and a co-amplification strategy was used to select transfectant cells with the largest number of gene copies. These cultures were subjected to the process of gene amplification with methotrexate. Western Blot and ELISA were used to assay the conditioned medium obtained from the selected cell populations and from overproducing cell clones. Among the 41 clones obtained, five presented higher levels of TGF-ß1 production, between 1,000 and 2,000 ng/mL. These clones were selected for in vitro activity testing using A549 cells to evaluate the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Awound healing assay on mouse dorsal skin was standardized and used to evaluate the in vivo activity of the cell clone which displayed the highest result in vitro. The TGF-ß1 protein was partially purified by HPLC on an affinity column. Therefore, the recombinant human TGF-ß1 protein was produced and shown to display biological activity both in vitro and in vivo, being able to eficiently repair cutaneous wounds. This initiative may provide patients with an alternative treatment for tissue damage, accelerating wound healing and tissue repair

Generation of a serum free CHO DG44 cell line stably producing a broadly protective anti-influenza virus monoclonal antibody.

Because of the broad neutralization and in vivo protection across influenza A and influenza B virus strains, monoclonal antibody CR9114 is widely used in influenza virus research as a positive control in many experiments. To produce amounts sufficient for the demand requires regular transient transfections, resulting in varying yield as well as differing batch to batch quality. Here, we report the development of a serum-free CHO DG44 cell line, stably producing a CR9114-like antibody with a potential to become a useful influenza virus research tool.

Engineering CHO cells with an oncogenic KIT improves cells growth, resilience to stress, and productivity.

An optimized biomanufacturing process in mammalian cells is contingent on the ability of the producing cells to reach high viable cell densities. In addition, at the peak of growth, cells need to continue producing the biological entity at a consistent quality. Thus, engineering cells with robust growth performance and resilience to variable stress conditions is highly desirable. The tyrosine kinase receptor, KIT, plays a key role in cell differentiation and the survival of several immune cell types. Its oncogenic mutant, D816V, endows cells with high proliferation capacity, and resistance to kinase inhibitors. Importantly, this onco-KIT mutant when introduced into various cell types is arrested in the endoplasmic reticulum in a constitutively active form. Here, we investigated the effect of oncogenic D816V KIT on the performance of CHO-K1 cells under conventional tissue culture growth settings and when adapted, to shaking conditions. The onco-KIT promoted global protein synthesis, elevated the expression of a secretable transgene, enhanced proliferation, and improved the overall titers of a model glycoprotein. Moreover, the expression of the onco-KIT endowed the cells with a remarkable resistance to various stress conditions. Our data suggest that the introduction of onco-KIT can serve as a strategy for improving glycoprotein biomanufacturing. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2560-2570. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

CHO cells engineered for fluorescence read out of cell cycle and growth rate in real time.

For efficient production of recombinant proteins by mammalian cells in a bioreactor, optimal growth rates are required and represent the most important process parameter. We present the first successful attempt to monitor the growth behavior and cell cycle state of a mammalian production relevant cell line under bioreactor cultivation conditions up to 1.2 l, utilizing a fluorescent read-out without the need of additional staining or marking. For this purpose, we developed two new production relevant cell line derivatives (CHO-K1 FUCCI CM & CHO-K1 FUCCI CN) and corresponding analytical methods. The approach is easily scalable, applicable to mammalian recombinant protein production cell lines, and it allows for real-time monitoring using appropriate fluorescence probes. It is based on the Ubiquitination-based Cell Cycle Indicator (FUCCI) system developed by Miyawaki et al. CHO-K1 was chosen as a model cell line due to its close relationship to several production cell lines.1 We defined a new process parameter ired , a quantitative and numerically robust representation of the cell cycle distribution, and demonstrate it to be linearly correlated with the cell cycle state and inversely related to the real time growth rate. Detection of growth rate limitations is possible earlier than using cell-count-based approaches. Analytics were compatible with bulk fluorescence methods, using a plate reader as well as a flow cytometer. For future real time applications in industry scale bioreactors we recommend the use of on-line or at-line fluorescence probes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1408-1417, 2017.

Segmentation and Quantitative Analysis of Apoptosis of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells from Fluorescence Microscopy Images.

Accurate and fast quantitative analysis of living cells from fluorescence microscopy images is useful for evaluating experimental outcomes and cell culture protocols. An algorithm is developed in this work to automatically segment and distinguish apoptotic cells from normal cells. The algorithm involves three steps consisting of two segmentation steps and a classification step. The segmentation steps are: (i) a coarse segmentation, combining a range filter with a marching square method, is used as a prefiltering step to provide the approximate positions of cells within a two-dimensional matrix used to store cells' images and the count of the number of cells for a given image; and (ii) a fine segmentation step using the Active Contours Without Edges method is applied to the boundaries of cells identified in the coarse segmentation step. Although this basic two-step approach provides accurate edges when the cells in a given image are sparsely distributed, the occurrence of clusters of cells in high cell density samples requires further processing. Hence, a novel algorithm for clusters is developed to identify the edges of cells within clusters and to approximate their morphological features. Based on the segmentation results, a support vector machine classifier that uses three morphological features: the mean value of pixel intensities in the cellular regions, the variance of pixel intensities in the vicinity of cell boundaries, and the lengths of the boundaries, is developed for distinguishing apoptotic cells from normal cells. The algorithm is shown to be efficient in terms of computational time, quantitative analysis, and differentiation accuracy, as compared with the use of the active contours method without the proposed preliminary coarse segmentation step.