1
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Dannemeyer M, Berling A, Kanje S, Enstedt H, Xu L, Afshari D, Westin M, Hober G, Uhlén M, Hober S, Tegel H. Fast and robust recombinant protein production utilizing episomal stable pools in WAVE bioreactors. Protein Expr Purif 2024; 221:106505. [PMID: 38768672 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2024.106505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Protein reagents are essential resources for several stages of drug discovery projects from structural biology and assay development through lead optimization. Depending on the aim of the project different amounts of pure protein are required. Small-scale expressions are initially used to determine the reachable levels of production and quality before scaling up protein reagent supply. Commonly, amounts of several hundreds of milligrams to grams are needed for different experiments, including structural investigations and activity evaluations, which require rather large cultivation volumes. This implies that cultivation of large volumes of either transiently transfected cells or stable pools/stable cell lines is needed. Hence, a production process that is scalable, speeds up the development projects, and increases the robustness of protein reagent quality throughout scales. Here we present a protein production pipeline with high scalability. We show that our protocols for protein production in Chinese hamster ovary cells allow for a seamless and efficient scale-up with robust product quality and high performance. The flexible scale of the production process, as shown here, allows for shorter lead times in drug discovery projects where there is a reagent demand for a specific protein or a set of target proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Dannemeyer
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna Berling
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sara Kanje
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Henric Enstedt
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - LanLan Xu
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Delaram Afshari
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Malin Westin
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Gabriella Hober
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mathias Uhlén
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Hanna Tegel
- Department of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
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2
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Yoon C, Lee EJ, Kim D, Joung S, Kim Y, Jung H, Kim YG, Lee GM. SiMPl-GS: Advancing Cell Line Development via Synthetic Selection Marker for Next-Generation Biopharmaceutical Production. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024:e2405593. [PMID: 39105414 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202405593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024]
Abstract
Rapid and efficient cell line development (CLD) process is essential to expedite therapeutic protein development. However, the performance of widely used glutamine-based selection systems is limited by low selection efficiency, stringency, and the inability to select multiple genes. Therefore, an AND-gate synthetic selection system is rationally designed using split intein-mediated protein ligation of glutamine synthetase (GS) (SiMPl-GS). Split sites of the GS are selected using a computational approach and validated with GS-knockout Chinese hamster ovary cells for their potential to enable cell survival in a glutamine-free medium. In CLD, SiMPl-GS outperforms the wild-type GS by selectively enriching high producers. Unlike wild-type GS, SiMPl-GS results in cell pools in which most cells produce high levels of therapeutic proteins. Harnessing orthogonal split intein pairs further enables the selection of four plasmids with a single selection, streamlining multispecific antibody-producing CLD. Taken together, SiMPl-GS is a simple yet effective means to expedite CLD for therapeutic protein production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chansik Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun-Ji Lee
- Biotherapeutics Translational Research Center, KRIBB, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
- Department of Bioprocess Engineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, UST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Dongil Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Siyun Joung
- Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Yujin Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Heungchae Jung
- Department of Bioprocess Engineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, UST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
- BIO Center, Daejeon Technopark, Daejeon, 34054, Republic of Korea
| | - Yeon-Gu Kim
- Biotherapeutics Translational Research Center, KRIBB, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
- Department of Bioprocess Engineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, UST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyun Min Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
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3
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Stocks BB, Thibeault MP, L'Abbé D, Umer M, Liu Y, Stuible M, Durocher Y, Melanson JE. Characterization of biotinylated human ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 spike protein reference materials. Anal Bioanal Chem 2024:10.1007/s00216-024-05413-7. [PMID: 38942955 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-024-05413-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Revised: 06/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024]
Abstract
Accurate diagnostic and serology assays are required for the continued management of the COVID-19 pandemic yet spike protein mutations and intellectual property concerns with antigens and antibodies used in various test kits render comparability assessments difficult. As the use of common, well-characterized reagents can help address this lack of standardization, the National Research Council Canada has produced two protein reference materials (RMs) for use in SARS-CoV-2 serology assays: biotinylated human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 RM, ACE2-1, and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 spike protein RM, OMIC-1. Reference values were assigned through a combination of amino acid analysis via isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry following acid hydrolysis, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry at 280 nm. Vial-to-vial homogeneity was established using UV-Vis measurements, and protein oligomeric status, monitored by size exclusion liquid chromatography (LC-SEC), was used to evaluate transportation, storage, and freeze-thaw stabilities. The molar protein concentration in ACE2-1 was 25.3 ± 1.7 µmol L-1 (k = 2, 95% CI) and consisted almost exclusively (98%) of monomeric ACE2, while OMIC-1 contained 5.4 ± 0.5 µmol L-1 (k = 2) spike protein in a mostly (82%) trimeric form. Glycoprotein molar mass determination by LC-SEC with multi-angle light scattering detection facilitated calculation of corresponding mass concentrations. To confirm protein functionality, the binding of OMIC-1 to immobilized ACE2-1 was investigated with surface plasmon resonance and the resulting dissociation constant, KD ~ 4.4 nM, was consistent with literature values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley B Stocks
- Metrology, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada.
| | - Marie-Pier Thibeault
- Metrology, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Denis L'Abbé
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Muhammad Umer
- Metrology, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Yali Liu
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Matthew Stuible
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Jeremy E Melanson
- Metrology, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
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4
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Puarattana-aroonkorn S, Tharakaraman K, Suriyawipada D, Ruchirawat M, Fuangthong M, Sasisekharan R, Artpradit C. Rapid and Scalable Production of Functional SARS-CoV-2 Virus-like Particles (VLPs) by a Stable HEK293 Cell Pool. Vaccines (Basel) 2024; 12:561. [PMID: 38932290 PMCID: PMC11209123 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12060561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2024] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
At times of pandemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the situation demands rapid development and production timelines of safe and effective vaccines for delivering life-saving medications quickly to patients. Typical biologics production relies on using the lengthy and arduous approach of stable single-cell clones. Here, we used an alternative approach, a stable cell pool that takes only weeks to generate compared to a stable single-cell clone that needs several months to complete. We employed the membrane, envelope, and highly immunogenic spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) using the HEK293-F cell line as a host system with an economical transfection reagent. The cell pool showed the stability of protein expression for more than one month. We demonstrated that the production of SARS-CoV-2 VLPs using this cell pool was scalable up to a stirred-tank 2 L bioreactor in fed-batch mode. The purified VLPs were properly assembled, and their size was consistent with the authentic virus. Our particles were functional as they specifically entered the cell that naturally expresses ACE-2. Notably, this work reports a practical and cost-effective manufacturing platform for scalable SARS-CoV-2 VLPs production and chromatographic purification.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kannan Tharakaraman
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Disapan Suriyawipada
- Translational Research Unit, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand (M.F.)
| | - Mathuros Ruchirawat
- Translational Research Unit, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand (M.F.)
- Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), OPS, MHESI, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - Mayuree Fuangthong
- Translational Research Unit, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand (M.F.)
- Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), OPS, MHESI, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
- Program in Applied Biological Sciences, Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
| | - Ram Sasisekharan
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Charlermchai Artpradit
- Translational Research Unit, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand (M.F.)
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5
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Reyes SJ, Lemire L, Molina RS, Roy M, L'Ecuyer-Coelho H, Martynova Y, Cass B, Voyer R, Durocher Y, Henry O, Pham PL. Multivariate data analysis of process parameters affecting the growth and productivity of stable Chinese hamster ovary cell pools expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as vaccine antigen in early process development. Biotechnol Prog 2024:e3467. [PMID: 38660973 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed an urgent need to develop robust cell culture platforms which can react rapidly to respond to this kind of global health issue. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) stable pools can be a vital alternative to quickly provide gram amounts of recombinant proteins required for early-phase clinical assays. In this study, we analyze early process development data of recombinant trimeric spike protein Cumate-inducible manufacturing platform utilizing CHO stable pool as a preferred production host across three different stirred-tank bioreactor scales (0.75, 1, and 10 L). The impact of cell passage number as an indicator of cell age, methionine sulfoximine (MSX) concentration as a selection pressure, and cell seeding density was investigated using stable pools expressing three variants of concern. Multivariate data analysis with principal component analysis and batch-wise unfolding technique was applied to evaluate the effect of critical process parameters on production variability and a random forest (RF) model was developed to forecast protein production. In order to further improve process understanding, the RF model was analyzed with Shapley value dependency plots so as to determine what ranges of variables were most associated with increased protein production. Increasing longevity, controlling lactate build-up, and altering pH deadband are considered promising approaches to improve overall culture outcomes. The results also demonstrated that these pools are in general stable expressing similar level of spike proteins up to cell passage 11 (~31 cell generations). This enables to expand enough cells required to seed large volume of 200-2000 L bioreactor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian-Juan Reyes
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | - Lucas Lemire
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | | | - Marjolaine Roy
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | | | - Yuliya Martynova
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | - Brian Cass
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | - Robert Voyer
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
| | - Olivier Henry
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Phuong Lan Pham
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Canada
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6
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Cheng J, Zhang Y, Tian Y, Cao L, Liu X, Miao S, Zhao L, Ye Q, Zhou Y, Tan WS. Development of a novel tyrosine-based selection system for generation of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cells. J Biosci Bioeng 2024; 137:221-229. [PMID: 38220502 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2023.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Efficiently expanding Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which serve as the primary host cells for recombinant protein production, have gained increasing industrial significance. A significant hurdle in stable cell line development is the low efficiency of the target gene integrated into the host genome, implying the necessity for an effective screening and selection procedure to separate these stable cells. In this study, the genes of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) and pterin 4 alpha carbinolamine dehydratase 1 (PCBD1), which are key enzymes in the tyrosine synthesis pathway, were utilized as selection markers and transduced into host cells together with the target genes. This research investigated the enrichment effect of this system and advanced further in understanding its benefits for cell line development and rCHO cell culture. A novel tyrosine-based selection system that only used PCBD1 as a selection marker was designed to promote the enrichment effect. Post 9 days of starvation, positive transductants in the cell pool approached 100%. Applied the novel tyrosine-based selection system, rCHO cells expressing E2 protein were generated and named CHO TS cells. It could continue to grow, and the yield of E2 achieved 95.95 mg/L in a tyrosine-free and chemically-defined (CD) medium. Herein, we introduced an alternative to antibiotic-based selections for the establishment of CHO cell lines and provided useful insights for the design and development of CD medium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Yanmin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Yuan Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Lei Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Xuping Liu
- Shanghai BioEngine Sci-Tech Co., Ltd, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Shiwei Miao
- Hangzhou Sumgen Biotech Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310051, China
| | - Liang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Qian Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
| | - Yan Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Wen-Song Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
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7
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Gashti AB, Agbayani G, Hrapovic S, Nassoury N, Coulombe N, Dudani R, Harrison BA, Akache B, Gilbert R, Chahal PS. Production, purification and immunogenicity of Gag virus-like particles carrying SARS-CoV-2 components. Vaccine 2024; 42:40-52. [PMID: 38042697 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.11.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/04/2023]
Abstract
The virus-like particle (VLP) platform is a robust inducer of humoral and cellular immune responses; hence, it has been used in vaccine development for several infectious diseases. In the current work, VLPs carrying SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein (Wuhan strain) with an HIV-1 Gag core were produced using suspension HEK 293SF-3F6 cells by transient transfection. The Gag was fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) for rapid quantification of the VLPs. Five different versions of Gag-Spike VLPs (Gag-S-VLPs) consisting of Gag-S alone or combined with other SARS-CoV-2 components, namely Gag-S-Nucleocapsid (N), Gag-S-Matrix (M), Gag-S-Envelope (E), Gag-S-MEN, along with Gag alone were produced and processed by clarification, nuclease treatment, concentration by tangential flow filtration (TFF) and diafiltration. A pilot mouse study was performed to evaluate the immunogenicity of the Gag-S-VLPs through the measurement of the humoral and/or cellular responses against all the mentioned SARS-CoV-2 components. Antibody response to Spike was observed in all variants. The highest number of Spike-specific IFN-γ + T cells was detected with Gag-S-VLPs. No induction of antigen-specific cellular responses to M, N or E proteins were detected with any of the Gag-S, M, E/or N VLPs tested. Therefore, the Gag-S-VLP, by reason of consistently eliciting strong antigen-specific cellular and antibody responses, was selected for further evaluation. The purification process was improved by replacing the conventional centrifugation by serial microfiltration in the clarification step, followed by Spike-affinity chromatography to get concentrated VLPs with higher purity. Three different doses of Gag-S-VLP in conjunction with two adjuvants (Quil-A or AddaVax) were used to assess the dose-dependent antigen-specific cellular and antibody responses in mice. The Gag-S-VLP adjuvanted with Quil-A resulted in a stronger Spike-specific cellular response compared to that adjuvanted with AddaVax. A strong spike neutralisation activity was observed for all doses, independent of the adjuvant combination.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gerard Agbayani
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Sabahudin Hrapovic
- Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Canada
| | - Nasha Nassoury
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nathalie Coulombe
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Renu Dudani
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Blair A Harrison
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Bassel Akache
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Rénald Gilbert
- Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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8
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Delafosse L, Lord-Dufour S, Pelletier A, Perret S, Burlacu A, Ouimet M, Cass B, Joubert S, Stuible M, Durocher Y. Recombinant Protein Production from Stable CHO Cell Pools. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2810:99-121. [PMID: 38926275 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3878-1_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The continuous improvement of expression platforms is necessary to respond to the increasing demand for recombinant proteins that are required to carry out structural or functional studies as well as for their characterization as biotherapeutics. While transient gene expression (TGE) in mammalian cells constitutes a rapid and well-established approach, non-clonal stably transfected cells, or "pools," represent another option, which is especially attractive when recurring productions of the same protein are required. From a culture volume of just a few liters, stable pools can provide hundreds of milligrams to gram quantities of high-quality secreted recombinant proteins.In this chapter, we describe a highly efficient and cost-effective procedure for the generation of Chinese Hamster Ovary cell stable pools expressing secreted recombinant proteins using commercially available serum-free media and polyethylenimine (PEI) as the transfection reagent. As a specific example of how this protocol can be applied, the production and downstream purification of recombinant His-tagged trimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike protein ectodomain (SmT1) are described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurence Delafosse
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Simon Lord-Dufour
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Alex Pelletier
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sylvie Perret
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Alina Burlacu
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Manon Ouimet
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Brian Cass
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Simon Joubert
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Matthew Stuible
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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9
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Stuible M, Schrag JD, Sheff J, Zoubchenok D, Lord-Dufour S, Cass B, L'Abbé D, Pelletier A, Rossotti MA, Tanha J, Gervais C, Maurice R, El Bakkouri M, Acchione M, Durocher Y. Influence of variant-specific mutations, temperature and pH on conformations of a large set of SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer vaccine antigen candidates. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16498. [PMID: 37779126 PMCID: PMC10543594 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43661-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccines continue to be the focus of intense clinical development worldwide. Protein antigens in these vaccines most commonly consist of the spike ectodomain fused to a heterologous trimerization sequence, designed to mimic the compact, prefusion conformation of the spike on the virus surface. Since 2020, we have produced dozens of such constructs in CHO cells, consisting of spike variants with different mutations fused to different trimerization sequences. This set of constructs displayed notable conformational heterogeneity, with two distinct trimer species consistently detected by analytical size exclusion chromatography. A recent report showed that spike ectodomain fusion constructs can adopt an alternative trimer conformation consisting of loosely associated ectodomain protomers. Here, we applied multiple biophysical and immunological techniques to demonstrate that this alternative conformation is formed to a significant extent by several SARS-CoV-2 variant spike proteins. We have also examined the influence of temperature and pH, which can induce inter-conversion of the two forms. The substantial structural differences between these trimer types may impact their performance as vaccine antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Stuible
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Joseph D Schrag
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Joey Sheff
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Daria Zoubchenok
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Simon Lord-Dufour
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Brian Cass
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Denis L'Abbé
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Alex Pelletier
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Martin A Rossotti
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Jamshid Tanha
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Christian Gervais
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Roger Maurice
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Majida El Bakkouri
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Mauro Acchione
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada.
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10
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Maltais JS, Lord-Dufour S, Morasse A, Stuible M, Loignon M, Durocher Y. Repressing expression of difficult-to-express recombinant proteins during the selection process increases productivity of CHO stable pools. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:2840-2852. [PMID: 37232536 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
More than half of licensed therapeutic recombinant proteins (r-proteins) are manufactured using constitutively-expressing, stably-transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) clones. While constitutive CHO expression systems have proven their efficacy for the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies, many next-generation therapeutics such as cytokines and bispecific antibodies as well as biological targets such as ectodomains of transmembrane receptors remain intrinsically challenging to produce. Herein, we exploited a cumate-inducible CHO platform allowing reduced expression of various classes of r-proteins during selection of stable pools. Following stable pool generation, fed-batch productions showed that pools generated without cumate (OFF-pools) were significantly more productive than pools selected in the presence of cumate (ON-pools) for 8 out of the 10 r-proteins tested, including cytokines, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), the HVEM membrane receptor ectodomain, the multifunctional protein High Mobility Group protein B1 (HMGB1), as well as monoclonal and bispecific T-cell engager antibodies. We showed that OFF-pools contain a significantly larger proportion of cells producing high levels of r-proteins and that these cells tend to proliferate faster when expression is turned off, suggesting that r-protein overexpression imposes a metabolic burden on the cells. Cell viability was lower and pool recovery was delayed during selection of ON-pools (mimicking constitutive expression), suggesting that high producers were likely lost or overgrown by faster-growing, low-producing cells. We also observed a correlation between the expression levels of the GPCRs with Binding immunoglobulin Protein, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress marker. Taken together, these data suggest that using an inducible system to minimize r-protein expression during stable CHO pool selection reduces cellular stresses, including ER stress and metabolic burden, leading to pools with greater frequency of high-expressing cells, resulting in improved volumetric productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Sébastien Maltais
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Simon Lord-Dufour
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Audrey Morasse
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Matthew Stuible
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Martin Loignon
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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Sauvageau J, Koyuturk I, St Michael F, Brochu D, Goneau MF, Schoenhofen I, Perret S, Star A, Robotham A, Haqqani A, Kelly J, Gilbert M, Durocher Y. Simplifying glycan monitoring of complex antigens such as the SARS-CoV-2 spike to accelerate vaccine development. Commun Chem 2023; 6:189. [PMID: 37684364 PMCID: PMC10491790 DOI: 10.1038/s42004-023-00988-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Glycosylation is a key quality attribute that must be closely monitored for protein therapeutics. Established assays such as HILIC-Fld of released glycans and LC-MS of glycopeptides work well for glycoproteins with a few glycosylation sites but are less amenable for those with multiple glycosylation sites, resulting in complex datasets that are time consuming to generate and difficult to analyze. As part of efforts to improve preparedness for future pandemics, researchers are currently assessing where time can be saved in the vaccine development and production process. In this context, we evaluated if neutral and acidic monosaccharides analysis via HPAEC-PAD could be used as a rapid and robust alternative to LC-MS and HILIC-Fld for monitoring glycosylation between protein production batches. Using glycoengineered spike proteins we show that the HPAEC-PAD monosaccharide assays could quickly and reproducibly detect both major and minor glycosylation differences between batches. Moreover, the monosaccharide results aligned well with those obtained by HILIC-Fld and LC-MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janelle Sauvageau
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada.
| | - Izel Koyuturk
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Avenue Royalmount, Montréal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Frank St Michael
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Denis Brochu
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Marie-France Goneau
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Ian Schoenhofen
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Sylvie Perret
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Avenue Royalmount, Montréal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Alexandra Star
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Anna Robotham
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Arsalan Haqqani
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - John Kelly
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Michel Gilbert
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Avenue Royalmount, Montréal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
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12
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Alpuche-Lazcano SP, Stuible M, Akache B, Tran A, Kelly J, Hrapovic S, Robotham A, Haqqani A, Star A, Renner TM, Blouin J, Maltais JS, Cass B, Cui K, Cho JY, Wang X, Zoubchenok D, Dudani R, Duque D, McCluskie MJ, Durocher Y. Preclinical evaluation of manufacturable SARS-CoV-2 spike virus-like particles produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. COMMUNICATIONS MEDICINE 2023; 3:116. [PMID: 37612423 PMCID: PMC10447459 DOI: 10.1038/s43856-023-00340-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, novel vaccines need to be developed that are readily manufacturable and provide clinical efficacy against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Virus-like particles (VLPs) presenting the spike antigen at their surface offer remarkable benefits over other vaccine antigen formats; however, current SARS-CoV-2 VLP vaccines candidates in clinical development suffer from challenges including low volumetric productivity, poor spike antigen density, expression platform-driven divergent protein glycosylation and complex upstream/downstream processing requirements. Despite their extensive use for therapeutic protein manufacturing and proven ability to produce enveloped VLPs, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are rarely used for the commercial production of VLP-based vaccines. METHODS Using CHO cells, we aimed to produce VLPs displaying the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike. Affinity chromatography was used to capture VLPs released in the culture medium from engineered CHO cells expressing spike. The structure, protein content, and glycosylation of spikes in VLPs were characterized by several biochemical and biophysical methods. In vivo, the generation of neutralizing antibodies and protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection was tested in mouse and hamster models. RESULTS We demonstrate that spike overexpression in CHO cells is sufficient by itself to generate high VLP titers. These VLPs are evocative of the native virus but with at least three-fold higher spike density. In vivo, purified VLPs elicit strong humoral and cellular immunity at nanogram dose levels which grant protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that CHO cells are amenable to efficient manufacturing of high titers of a potently immunogenic spike protein-based VLP vaccine antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio P Alpuche-Lazcano
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Matthew Stuible
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Bassel Akache
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Anh Tran
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - John Kelly
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Sabahudin Hrapovic
- Aquatic and Crop Resources Development Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Anna Robotham
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Arsalan Haqqani
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Alexandra Star
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Tyler M Renner
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Julie Blouin
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Jean-Sébastien Maltais
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Brian Cass
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Kai Cui
- Nanotechnology Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 11421 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M9, Canada
| | - Jae-Young Cho
- Nanotechnology Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 11421 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M9, Canada
| | - Xinyu Wang
- Nanotechnology Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 11421 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M9, Canada
| | - Daria Zoubchenok
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Renu Dudani
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Diana Duque
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Michael J McCluskie
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada.
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