Rapid construction of transgene-amplified CHO cell lines by cell cycle checkpoint engineering

From Efficiency to Yield: Exploring Recent Advances in CHO Cell Line Development for Monoclonal Antibodies

The increasing demand for biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has prompted the development of stable high-producing cell lines while simultaneously decreasing the time required for screening. Existing platforms have proven inefficient, resulting in inconsistencies in yields, growth characteristics, and quality features in the final mAb products. Selecting a suitable expression host, designing an effective gene expression system, developing a streamlined cell line generation approach, optimizing culture conditions, and defining scaling-up and purification strategies are all critical steps in the production of recombinant proteins, particularly monoclonal antibodies, in mammalian cells. As a result, an active area of study is dedicated to expression and optimizing recombinant protein production. This review explores recent breakthroughs and approaches targeted at accelerating cell line development to attain efficiency and consistency in the synthesis of therapeutic proteins, specifically monoclonal antibodies. The primary goal is to bridge the gap between rising demand and consistent, high-quality mAb production, thereby benefiting the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

Effects of genome instability of parental CHO cell clones on chromosome number distribution and recombinant protein production in parent-derived subclones

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the de facto standard host cells for biopharmaceuticals, and there is great interest in developing methods for constructing stable production cell lines. In this study, clones with a wide chromosome number distribution were selected from isolated antibody-producing strains, and subclones obtained from these clones were evaluated. The transgene copy number varied between the subclones. Even among subclones with similar copy numbers of antibody genes and maintained insertion sites, clones with different productivity were generated. Although the chromosome number distribution differed between these subclones, there was no correlation between the variability in chromosome number after cloning (genome instability) and productivity. Most of the subclones obtained from a parental strain with a wide chromosome number had the same wide chromosome number distribution as the parental strain. Less frequently, cells with less variation (remaining in one distribution) in chromosome number were isolated from cells with a wide chromosome number distribution, from which subclones with less variation in chromosome number were obtained when subcloning was performed again. These results imply that the characteristics of clones with chromosomal instability are inherited by subclones, and thus provide a better understanding of cell line stability/instability.

CRISPR-interceded CHO cell line development approaches

For industrial production of recombinant protein biopharmaceuticals, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells represent the most widely adopted host cell system, owing to their capacity to produce high-quality biologics with human-like posttranslational modifications. As opposed to random integration, targeted genome editing in genomic safe harbor sites has offered CHO cell line engineering a new perspective, ensuring production consistency in long-term culture and high biotherapeutic expression levels. Corresponding the remarkable advancements in knowledge of CRISPR-Cas systems, the use of CRISPR-Cas technology along with the donor design strategies has been pushed into increasing novel scenarios in cell line engineering, allowing scientists to modify mammalian genomes such as CHO cell line quickly, readily, and efficiently. Depending on the strategies and production requirements, the gene of interest can also be incorporated at single or multiple loci. This review will give a gist of all the most fundamental recent advancements in CHO cell line development, such as different cell line engineering approaches along with donor design strategies for targeted integration of the desired construct into genomic hot spots, which could ultimately lead to the fast-track product development process with consistent, improved product yield and quality.

Restoration of DNA repair mitigates genome instability and increases productivity of Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the primary host for manufacturing of therapeutic proteins. However, productivity loss is a major problem and is associated with genome instability, as chromosomal aberrations reduce transgene copy number and decrease protein expression. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 11 CHO cell lines and found deleterious single-nucleotide variants in DNA repair genes. Comparison with primary Chinese hamster cells confirmed DNA repair to be compromised in CHO. Correction of key DNA repair genes by single-nucleotide variant reversal or expression of intact complementary DNAs successfully improved DNA repair and mitigated karyotypic instability. Moreover, overexpression of intact copies of LIG4 and XRCC6 in a CHO cell line expressing secreted alkaline phosphatase mitigated transgene copy loss and improved protein titer retention. These results show that correction of DNA repair genes yields improvements in genome stability in CHO, and provide new opportunities for cell line development for sustainable protein expression.

Comprehensive characterization of dihydrofolate reductase-mediated gene amplification for the establishment of recombinant human embryonic kidney 293 cells producing monoclonal antibodies

Human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells with glycosylation machinery have emerged as an alternative host cell line for stable expression of therapeutic glycoproteins. To characterize dihydrofolate reductase/methotrexate (DHFR/MTX)-mediated gene amplification in HEK293 cells, an expression vector containing dhfr and monoclonal antibody (mAb) gene was transfected into dhfr-deficient HEK293 cells generated by knocking out dhfr and dhfrl1 in HEK293E cells. Due to the improved selection stringency, mAb-producing parental cell pools could be generated in the absence of MTX. When subjected to stepwise selection for increasing MTX concentrations such as 1, 10, and 100 nM, there was an increase in the specific mAb productivity (q_mAb ) of the parental cell pool upon DHFR/MTX-mediated gene amplification. High producing (HP) clones with a q_mAb of more than 2-fold of the corresponding cell pool could be obtained using the limiting dilution method. The q_mAb of most HP clones obtained from cell pools at elevated MTX concentrations significantly decreased during long-term culture (3 months) in the absence of selection pressure. However, some HP clones could maintain high q_mAb during long-term culture. Taken together, a stable HP recombinant HEK293 cell line can be established using DHFR/MTX-mediated gene amplification together with dhfr^- HEK293 host cells.

Chromatin-modifying elements for recombinant protein production in mammalian cell systems

Mammalian cells are the preferred choice system for the production of complex molecules, such as recombinant therapeutic proteins. Although the technology for increasing the yield of proteins has improved rapidly, the process of selecting, identifying as well as maintaining high-yield cell clones is still troublesome, time-consuming and usually uncertain. Optimization of expression vectors is one of the most effective methods for enhancing protein expression levels. Several commonly used chromatin-modifying elements, including the matrix attachment region, ubiquitous chromatin opening elements, insulators, stabilizing anti-repressor elements can be used to increase the expression level and stability of recombinant proteins. In this review, these chromatin-modifying elements used for the expression vector optimization in mammalian cells are summarized, and future strategies for the utilization of expression cassettes are also discussed.

Overexpression of mutant cell division cycle 25 homolog B (CDC25B) enhances the efficiency of selection in Chinese hamster ovary cells

The effects of mutant cell division cycle 25 homolog B (CDC25B) overexpression on the generation of cells producing a monoclonal antibody were investigated in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Mutant CDC25B (m-CDC25B) expression plasmids were transfected into CHO DG44-derived cells producing a monoclonal antibody, and the frequency of highly producing cells was assessed following gene amplification in the presence of 250 nM methotrexate. Most of the clones obtained from the m-CDC25B-overexpressing cells had higher antibody titers than did mock-transfected control cells. This arose from either higher transgene copy numbers or higher mRNA expression levels for the antibody. However, the high mRNA expression levels were not always accompanied by increases in transgene copy numbers. Our results suggest that cells producing high levels of a monoclonal antibody can be selected efficiently using m-CDC25B overexpression.

Improved antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary cells by ATF4 overexpression

To improve antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, the humanized antibody-producing CHO DP-12-SF cell line was transfected with the gene encoding activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a central factor in the unfolded protein response. Overexpression of ATF4 significantly enhanced the production of antibody in the CHO DP-12-SF cell line. The specific IgG production rate of in the ATF4-overexpressing CHO-ATF4-16 cells was approximately 2.4 times that of the parental host cell line. Clone CHO-ATF4-16 did not show any change in growth rate compared with the parental cells or mock-transfected CHO-DP12-SF cells. The expression levels of mRNAs encoding both the antibody heavy and light chains in the CHO-ATF4-16 clone were analyzed. This analysis showed that ATF4 overexpression improved the total production and specific production rate of antibody without affecting the mRNA transcription level. These results indicate that ATF4 overexpression is a promising method for improving recombinant IgG production in CHO cells.