Generation of reference cell lines, media, and a process platform for CHO cell biomanufacturing.

Due to the favorable attributes of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells for therapeutic proteins and antibodies biomanufacturing, companies generate proprietary cells with desirable phenotypes. One key attribute is the ability to stably express multi-gram per liter titers in chemically defined media. Cell, media, and feed diversity has limited community efforts to translate knowledge. Moreover, academic, and nonprofit researchers generally cannot study "industrially relevant" CHO cells due to limited public availability, and the time and knowledge required to generate such cells. To address these issues, a university-industrial consortium (Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center, AMBIC) has acquired two CHO "reference cell lines" from different lineages that express monoclonal antibodies. These reference cell lines have relevant production titers, key performance outcomes confirmed by multiple laboratories, and a detailed technology transfer protocol. In commercial media, titers over 2 g/L are reached. Fed-batch cultivation data from shake flask and scaled-down bioreactors is presented. Using productivity as the primary attribute, two academic sites aligned with tight reproducibility at each site. Further, a chemically defined media formulation was developed and evaluated in parallel to the commercial media. The goal of this work is to provide a universal, industrially relevant CHO culture platform to accelerate biomanufacturing innovation.

Cellular trafficking and photochemical internalization of cell penetrating peptide linked cargo proteins: a dual fluorescent labeling study.

Initial cellular uptake of cell penetrating peptide (CPP) linked macromolecules is usually endosomal, with passage from endosome to cytosol a major limitation to efficient delivery. To gain a better understanding of the passage of the CPP-linked proteins, we studied the uptake and localization of CPP-linked proteins that contained two different forms of fluorescent markers, GFP protein and chemically conjugated tetramethylrhodamine, in living cells. Rhodamine labeled TAT-GFP was internalized in multiple cell lines including HEK293, N18-RE-105, hippocampal slices, and human neural progenitor cells and showed predominantly endosomal localization of both fluorescent markers. Cytosolic localization of some rhodamine label was detected to suggest that some of the GFP label had exited from the endosome. However, quantification of the distribution of the rhodamine and GFP label indicated that the protein location was primarily endosomal and that the distribution of TAT-GFP was not significantly different than that of an exclusively endosomal localized exogenous protein (tetanus toxin fragment C - TTC). As a result, photochemical internalization (PCI) was evaluated and caused a significant quantitative redistribution of cellular fluorescence of rhodamine and GFP labels to demonstrate increased cytosolic delivery of GFP. While rhodamine-labeled TAT-GFP showed cytosolic delivery with exposure to specific wavelengths of fluorescent illumination, a similarly labeled GFP fusion protein containing the membrane binding domain of TTC did not mediate PCI in N18-RE-105 cells.

An HPLC-MALDI MS method for N-glycan analyses using smaller size samples: application to monitor glycan modulation by medium conditions.

Existing HPLC methods can provide detailed structure and isomeric information, but are often slow and require large initial sample sizes. In this study, a previously established two-dimensional HPLC technique was adapted to a two-step identification method for smaller sample sizes. After cleavage from proteins, purification, and fluorescent labeling, glycans were analyzed on a 2-mm reverse phase HPLC column on a conventional HPLC and spotted onto a MALDI-TOF MS plate using an automated plate spotter to determine molecular weights. A direct correlation was found for 25 neutral oligosaccharides between the 2-mm Shim-Pack VP-ODS HPLC column (Shimadzu) and the 6-mm CLC-ODS column (Shimadzu) of the standard two- and three-dimensional methods. The increased throughput adaptations allowed a 100-fold reduction in required amounts of starting protein. The entire process can be carried out in 2-3 days for a large number of samples as compared to 1-2 weeks per sample for previous two-dimensional HPLC methods. The modified method was verified by identifying N-glycan structures, including specifying two different galactosylated positional isomers, of an IgG antibody from human sera samples. Analysis of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) from CHO cell cultures under varying culture conditions illustrated how the method can identify changes in oligosaccharide structure in the presence of different media environments. Raising glutamine concentrations or adding ammonia directly to the culture led to decreased galactosylation, while substituting GlutaMAX-I, a dipeptide of L-alanine and L-glutamine, resulted in structures with more galactosylation. This modified system will enable glycoprofiling of smaller glycoprotein samples in a shorter time period and allow a more rapid evaluation of the effects of culture conditions on expressed protein glycosylation.

Macrophages produce TGF-beta-induced (beta-ig-h3) following ingestion of apoptotic cells and regulate MMP14 levels and collagen turnover in fibroblasts.

Phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells by macrophages is an essential part in the resolution of inflammation. It coincides with activation of repair mechanisms, including accumulation of extracellular matrix. A possible link between clearance of apoptotic debris and accumulation of extracellular matrix has not been investigated. Production of collagen was measured in primary fibroblasts cocultured with macrophages. Ingestion of apoptotic cells by monocyte-derived macrophages led to up-regulation of collagen. Direct contact between macrophages and fibroblasts was not required for collagen up-regulation. Macrophages produced TGF-beta following ingestion of apoptotic cells, but the levels of this cytokine were lower than those required for a significant up-regulation of collagen. Simultaneously, the levels of TGF-beta-induced (TGFBI), or keratoepithelin/BIGH3, mRNA and protein were increased. In contrast, primary alveolar macrophages stimulated collagen production without exposure to apoptotic cells; there was no further increase in the levels of TGFBI, mRNA or protein, or collagen after ingestion of apoptotic cells. Stimulation of fibroblasts with TGFBI down-regulated MMP14 levels, decreased DNA binding by p53, increased DNA binding by PU.1, and up-regulated collagen protein but not mRNA levels. Overexpression of MMP14 or p53, or small interfering RNA-mediated inhibition of PU.1 led to an increase in MMP14 and a decline in collagen levels, whereas small interfering RNA-mediated inhibition of MMP14 led to elevation of collagen levels. In conclusion, monocyte-derived but not alveolar macrophages produce TGFBI following ingestion of apoptotic cells, leading to the down-regulation of MMP14 levels in fibroblasts through a mechanism involving p53 and PU.1, and to subsequent accumulation of collagen.