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Huang Z, Habib A, Zhao G, Ding X. CRISPR-Cas9 Mediated Stable Expression of Exogenous Proteins in the CHO Cell Line through Site-Specific Integration. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:16767. [PMID: 38069090 PMCID: PMC10706275 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242316767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are a popular choice in biopharmaceuticals because of their beneficial traits, including high-density suspension culture, safety, and exogenously produced proteins that closely resemble natural proteins. Nevertheless, a decline in the expression of exogenous proteins is noted as culture time progresses. This is a consequence of foreign gene recombination into chromosomes by random integration. The current investigation employs CRISPR-Cas9 technology to integrate foreign genes into a particular chromosomal location for sustained expression. Results demonstrate the successful integration of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and human serum albumin (HSA) near base 434814407 on chromosome NC_048595.1 of CHO-K1 cells. Over 60 successive passages, monoclonal cell lines were produced that consistently expressed all relevant external proteins without discernible variation in expression levels. In conclusion, the CHO-K1 cell locus, NC_048595.1, proves an advantageous locus for stable exogenous protein expression. This study provides a viable approach to establishing a CHO cell line capable of enduring reliable exogenous protein expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhipeng Huang
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Arslan Habib
- Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Guoping Zhao
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Xiaoming Ding
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
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2
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Amiri S, Adibzadeh S, Ghanbari S, Rahmani B, Kheirandish MH, Farokhi-Fard A, Dastjerdeh MS, Davami F. CRISPR-interceded CHO cell line development approaches. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:865-902. [PMID: 36597180 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahin Amiri
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Setare Adibzadeh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Samaneh Ghanbari
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Behnaz Rahmani
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad H Kheirandish
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Aref Farokhi-Fard
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mansoureh S Dastjerdeh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Davami
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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A comprehensive evaluation of stable expression "hot spot" in the ScltI gene of Chinese hamster ovary cells. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:1299-1309. [PMID: 36707420 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12383-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell is the most widely used biopharmaceutical expression system, but its long-term expression is unstable. This issue can be effectively addressed by site-specific integration of exogenous genes into the genome. Therefore, exogenous protein sites with stable expression in the CHO cell genome must be identified. CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used in this study to integrate various exogenous genes into the ScltI site as a "hot spot" at the CHO-K1 cell genome NW_003614095.1, and the stability and adaptability of exogenous genes expressed at the site were investigated. Flow cytometry sorting technology was used to obtain positive monoclonal cell lines that expressed either intracellular protein green fluorescent protein (EGFP) or secretory protein human serum albumin (HSA). For 60 passages, the positive monoclonal cell lines' cell growth cycles and exogenous protein expression were both observed. The results demonstrated that integrating the gene encoding exogenous proteins into the ScltI site had no effect on cell growth. The fluorescence intensity of EGFP was similar after 60 passages, and the expression of HSA increased slightly. Additionally, the super-monomeric protein VWF hydrolase (ADAMTS13) (190 kDa), human coagulation factor VII (FVII) (55 kDa), and interferon α2b (12 kDa) were integrated into the ScltI site for expression. In conclusion, the site located in the first exon of the ScltI gene within the CHO-K1 cell genome NW_003614095.1 is an ideal "hot spot" for the stable expression of various exogenous proteins. KEY POINTS: • The site-specific integration strategy of an exogenous gene in CHO cells was established for the ScltI site. • The genes for EGFP and HSA were site-directed integrated and stably expressed at the ScltI site. • The ScltI site fulfills the expression of exogenous proteins of different molecular weight sizes (15-190 kDa).
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Hertel O, Neuss A, Busche T, Brandt D, Kalinowski J, Bahnemann J, Noll T. Enhancing stability of recombinant CHO cells by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated site-specific integration into regions with distinct histone modifications. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:1010719. [PMID: 36312557 PMCID: PMC9606416 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1010719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most important platform for producing biotherapeutics. Random integration of a transgene into epigenetically instable regions of the genome results in silencing of the gene of interest and loss of productivity during upstream processing. Therefore, cost- and time-intensive long-term stability studies must be performed. Site-specific integration into safe harbors is a strategy to overcome these limitations of conventional cell line design. Recent publications predict safe harbors in CHO cells based on omics data sets or by learning from random integrations, but those predictions remain theory. In this study, we established a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated site-specific integration strategy based on ChIP-seq data to improve stability of recombinant CHO cells. Therefore, a ChIP experiment from the exponential and stationary growth phase of a fed-batch cultivation of CHO-K1 cells yielded 709 potentially stable integration sites. The reporter gene eGFP was integrated into three regions harboring specific modifications by CRISPR/Cas9. Targeted Cas9 nanopore sequencing showed site-specific integration in all 3 cell pools with a specificity between 23 and 73%. Subsequently, the cells with the three different integration sites were compared with the randomly integrated donor vector in terms of transcript level, productivity, gene copy numbers and stability. All site-specific integrations showed an increase in productivity and transcript levels of up to 7.4-fold. In a long-term cultivation over 70 generations, two of the site-specific integrations showed a stable productivity (>70%) independent of selection pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Hertel
- Cell Culture Technology, Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- *Correspondence: Oliver Hertel,
| | - Anne Neuss
- Biochemical Engineering (AVT.BioVT), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Tobias Busche
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - David Brandt
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Jörn Kalinowski
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | | | - Thomas Noll
- Cell Culture Technology, Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Oliviero C, Hinz SC, Bogen JP, Kornmann H, Hock B, Kolmar H, Hagens G. Generation of a Host Cell line containing a MAR-rich landing pad for site-specific integration and expression of transgenes. Biotechnol Prog 2022; 38:e3254. [PMID: 35396920 PMCID: PMC9539524 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, targeted gene integration (TI) has been introduced as a strategy for the generation of recombinant mammalian cell lines for the production of biotherapeutics. Besides reducing the immense heterogeneity within a pool of recombinant transfectants, TI also aims at shortening the duration of the current cell line development process. Here we describe the generation of a host cell line carrying Matrix‐Attachment Region (MAR)‐rich landing pads (LPs), which allow for the simultaneous and site‐specific integration of multiple genes of interest (GOIs). We show that several copies of each chicken lysozyme 5'MAR‐based LP containing either BxB1 wild type or mutated recombination sites, integrated at one random chromosomal locus of the host cell genome. We further demonstrate that these LP‐containing host cell lines can be used for the site‐specific integration of several GOIs and thus, generation of transgene‐expressing stable recombinant clones. Transgene expression was shown by site‐specific integration of heavy and light chain genes coding for a monospecific antibody (msAb) as well as for a bi‐specific antibody (bsAb). The genetic stability of the herein described LP‐based recombinant clones expressing msAb or bsAb was demonstrated by cultivating the recombinant clones and measuring antibody titers over 85 generations. We conclude that the host cell containing multiple copies of MAR‐rich landing pads can be successfully used for stable expression of one or several GOIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Oliviero
- Institute of Life Technology, Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie HES-SO Valais Wallis, Rue de l'Industrie 19, CH-1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Steffen C Hinz
- Institute of Life Technology, Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie HES-SO Valais Wallis, Rue de l'Industrie 19, CH-1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Jan P Bogen
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Strasse 4, D-64287, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Henri Kornmann
- Ferring Biologics Innovation Center, Route de la Corniche 8, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Björn Hock
- Ferring Biologics Innovation Center, Route de la Corniche 8, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland.,SwissThera SA, Route de la Corniche 4, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Harald Kolmar
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Strasse 4, D-64287, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Gerrit Hagens
- Institute of Life Technology, Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie HES-SO Valais Wallis, Rue de l'Industrie 19, CH-1950 Sion, Switzerland
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Tejwani V, Chaudhari M, Rai T, Sharfstein ST. High-throughput and automation advances for accelerating single-cell cloning, monoclonality and early phase clone screening steps in mammalian cell line development for biologics production. Biotechnol Prog 2021; 37:e3208. [PMID: 34478248 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian cell line development is a multistep process wherein timelines for developing clonal cells to be used as manufacturing cell lines for biologics production can commonly extend to 9 months when no automation or modern molecular technologies are involved in the workflow. Steps in the cell line development workflow involving single-cell cloning, monoclonality assurance, productivity and stability screening are labor, time and resource intensive when performed manually. Introduction of automation and miniaturization in these steps has reduced the required manual labor, shortened timelines from months to weeks, and decreased the resources needed to develop manufacturing cell lines. This review summarizes the advances, benefits, comparisons and shortcomings of different automation platforms available in the market for rapid isolation of desired clonal cell lines for biologics production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijay Tejwani
- Biotechnology R&D, Clone Development Team, Lupin Limited, Pune, India
| | - Minal Chaudhari
- Biotechnology R&D, Clone Development Team, Lupin Limited, Pune, India
| | - Toyaj Rai
- Biotechnology R&D, Clone Development Team, Lupin Limited, Pune, India
| | - Susan T Sharfstein
- College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York, USA
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Shin SW, Lee JS. CHO Cell Line Development and Engineering via Site-specific Integration: Challenges and Opportunities. BIOTECHNOL BIOPROC E 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s12257-020-0093-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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