Fed-batch fermentation of GM-CSF-producing glycoengineered Pichia pastoris under controlled specific growth rate

Unveiling the potential of specific growth rate control in fed-batch fermentation: bridging the gap between product quantity and quality

During the epoch of sustainable development, leveraging cellular systems for production of diverse chemicals via fermentation has garnered attention. Industrial fermentation, extending beyond strain efficiency and optimal conditions, necessitates a profound understanding of microorganism growth characteristics. Specific growth rate (SGR) is designated as a key variable due to its influence on cellular physiology, product synthesis rates and end-product quality. Despite its significance, the lack of real-time measurements and robust control systems hampers SGR control strategy implementation. The narrative in this contribution delves into the challenges associated with the SGR control and presents perspectives on various control strategies, integration of soft-sensors for real-time measurement and control of SGR. The discussion highlights practical and simple SGR control schemes, suggesting their seamless integration into industrial fermenters. Recommendations provided aim to propose new algorithms accommodating mechanistic and data-driven modelling for enhanced progress in industrial fermentation in the context of sustainable bioprocessing.

A concise guide to choosing suitable gene expression systems for recombinant protein production

This overview guides both novices and experienced researchers facing challenging targets to select the most appropriate gene expression system for producing a particular protein. By answering four key questions, readers can determine the most suitable gene expression system following a decision scheme. This guide addresses the most commonly used and accessible systems and provides brief descriptions of the main gene expression systems' key characteristics to assist decision making. Additionally, information has been included for selected less frequently used "exotic" gene expression systems.

Current achievements, strategies, obstacles, and overcoming the challenges of the protein engineering in Pichia pastoris expression system

Yeasts serve as exceptional hosts in the manufacturing of functional protein engineering and possess industrial or medical utilities. Considerable focus has been directed towards yeast owing to its inherent benefits and recent advancements in this particular cellular host. The Pichia pastoris expression system is widely recognized as a prominent and widely accepted instrument in molecular biology for the purpose of generating recombinant proteins. The advantages of utilizing the P. pastoris system for protein production encompass the proper folding process occurring within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), as well as the subsequent secretion mediated by Kex2 as a signal peptidase, ultimately leading to the release of recombinant proteins into the extracellular environment of the cell. In addition, within the P. pastoris expression system, the ease of purifying recombinant protein arises from its restricted synthesis of endogenous secretory proteins. Despite its achievements, scientists often encounter persistent challenges when attempting to utilize yeast for the production of recombinant proteins. This review is dedicated to discussing the current achievements in the usage of P. pastoris as an expression host. Furthermore, it sheds light on the strategies employed in the expression system and the optimization and development of the fermentative process of this yeast. Finally, the impediments (such as identifying high expression strains, improving secretion efficiency, and decreasing hyperglycosylation) and successful resolution of certain difficulties are put forth and deliberated upon in order to assist and promote the expression of complex proteins in this prevalent recombinant host.

Improving phytase production in Pichia pastoris fermentations through de-repression and methanol induction optimization

Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) is a fast-growing methylotrophic yeast with the ability to assimilate several carbon sources such as methanol, glucose, or glycerol. It has been shown to have outstanding secretion capability with a variety of heterologous proteins. In previous studies, we engineered P. pastoris to co-express Escherichia coli AppA phytase and the HAC1 transcriptional activator using a bidirectional promoter. Phytase production was characterized in shake flasks and did not reflect industrial conditions. In the present study, phytase expression was explored and optimized using instrumented fermenters in continuous and fed-batch modes. First, the production of phytase was investigated under glucose de-repression in continuous culture at three dilution factors, 0.5 d-1 , 1 d-1 , and 1.5 d-1 . The fermenter parameters of these cultures were used to inform a kinetic model in batch and fed-batch modes for growth and phytase production. The kinetic model developed aided to design the glucose-feeding profile of a fed-batch culture. Kinetic model simulations under glucose de-repression and fed-batch conditions identified optimal phytase productivity at the specific growth rate of 0.041 h-1 . Validation of the model simulation with experimental data confirmed the feasibility of the model to predict phytase production in our newly engineered strain. Methanol was used only to induce the expression of phytase at high cell densities. Our results showed that high phytase production required two stages, the first stage used glucose under de-repression conditions to generate biomass while expressing phytase, and stage two used methanol to induce phytase expression. The production of phytase was improved 3.5-fold by methanol induction compared to the expression with glucose alone under de-repression conditions to a final phytase activity of 12.65 MU/L. This final volumetric phytase production represented an approximate 36-fold change compared to the flask fermentations. Finally, the phytase protein produced was assayed to confirm its molecular weight, and pH and temperature profiles. This study highlights the importance of optimizing protein production in P. pastoris when using novel promoters and presents a general approach to performing bioprocess optimization in this important production host.

Strains and Molecular Tools for Recombinant Protein Production in Pichia pastoris

Within the last two decades, the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) has become an important alternative to E. coli or mammalian cell lines for the production of recombinant proteins. Easy handling, strong promoters, and high cell density cultivations as well as the capability of posttranslational modifications are some of the major benefits of this yeast. The high secretion capacity and low level of endogenously secreted proteins further promoted the rapid development of a versatile Pichia pastoris toolbox. This chapter reviews common and new "Pichia tools" and their specific features. Special focus is given to expression strains, such as different methanol utilization, protease-deficient or glycoengineered strains, combined with application highlights. Different promoters and signal sequences are also discussed.

Dynamic Feeding for Pichia pastoris

The knowledge of certain strain-specific parameters of recombinant Pichia pastoris strains is required to be able to set up a feeding regime for fed-batch cultivations. These parameters are commonly determined either by time-consuming and labor-intensive continuous cultivations or by several, consecutive fed-batch cultivations. Here, we describe a fast method based on batch experiments with substrate pulses to extract certain strain characteristic parameters, which are required to set up a dynamic feeding strategy for P. pastoris strains based on the specific substrate uptake rate. We further describe in detail the course of actions, which have to be taken to obtain the desired dynamics during feeding.

Soluble Prokaryotic Overexpression and Purification of Human GM-CSF Using the Protein Disulfide Isomerase b'a' Domain

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a member of the colony-stimulating factor (CSF) family, which functions to enhance the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells and other hematopoietic lineages such as neutrophils, dendritic cells, or macrophages. These proteins have thus generated considerable interest in clinical therapy research. A current obstacle to the prokaryotic production of human GM-CSF (hGM-CSF) is its low solubility when overexpressed and subsequent complex refolding processes. In our present study, the solubility of hGM-CSF was examined when combined with three N-terminal fusion tags in five E. coli strains at three different expression temperatures. In the five E. coli strains BL21 (DE3), ClearColi BL21 (DE3), LOBSTR, SHuffle T7 and Origami2 (DE3), the hexahistidine-tagged hGM-CSF showed the best expression but was insoluble in all cases at each examined temperature. Tagging with the maltose-binding protein (MBP) and the b'a' domain of protein disulfide isomerase (PDIb'a') greatly improved the soluble overexpression of hGM-CSF at 30 °C and 18 °C. The solubility was not improved using the Origami2 (DE3) and SHuffle T7 strains that have been engineered for disulfide bond formation. Two conventional chromatographic steps were used to purify hGM-CSF from the overexpressed PDIb'a'-hGM-CSF produced in ClearColi BL21 (DE3). In the experiment, 0.65 mg of hGM-CSF was isolated from a 0.5 L flask culture of these E. coli and showed a 98% purity by SDS-PAGE analysis and silver staining. The bioactivity of this purified hGM-CSF was measured at an EC₅₀ of 16.4 ± 2 pM by a CCK8 assay in TF-1 human erythroleukemia cells.

Overcoming Obstacles in Protein Expression in the Yeast Pichia pastoris: Interviews of Leaders in the Pichia Field

The yeast Pichia pastoris (also known as Komagataella pastoris) has been used for over 30 years to produce thousands of valuable, heterologous proteins, such as insulin to treat diabetes and antibodies to prevent migraine headaches. Despite its success, there are some common, stubborn problems encountered by research scientists when they try to use the yeast to produce their recombinant proteins. In order to provide those working in this field with strategies to overcome these common obstacles, nine experts in P. pastoris protein expression field were interviewed to create a written review and video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1oD6k8CdG8). This review describes how each respected scientist addressed a specific challenge, such as identifying high expression strains, improving secretion efficiency and decreasing hyperglycosylation. Their perspective and practical advice can be a tool to help empower others to express challenging proteins in this popular recombinant host.

Off-target glycans encountered along the synthetic biology route toward humanized N-glycans in Pichia pastoris

The glycosylation pathways of several eukaryotic protein expression hosts are being engineered to enable the production of therapeutic glycoproteins with humanized application-customized glycan structures. In several expression hosts, this has been quite successful, but one caveat is that the new N-glycan structures inadvertently might be substrates for one or more of the multitude of endogenous glycosyltransferases in such heterologous background. This then results in the formation of novel, undesired glycan structures, which often remain insufficiently characterized. When expressing mouse interleukin-22 in a Pichia pastoris (syn. Komagataella phaffii) GlycoSwitchM5 strain, which had been optimized to produce Man₅ GlcNAc₂ N-glycans, glycan profiling revealed two major species: Man₅ GlcNAc₂ and an unexpected, partially α-mannosidase-resistant structure. A detailed structural analysis using exoglycosidase sequencing, mass spectrometry, linkage analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance revealed that this novel glycan was Man₅ GlcNAc₂ modified with a Glcα-1,2-Manβ-1,2-Manβ-1,3-Glcα-1,3-R tetrasaccharide. Expression of a Golgi-targeted GlcNAc transferase-I strongly inhibited the formation of this novel modification, resulting in more homogeneous modification with the targeted GlcNAcMan₅ GlcNAc₂ structure. Our findings reinforce accumulating evidence that robustly customizing the N-glycosylation pathway in P. pastoris to produce particular human-type structures is still an incompletely solved synthetic biology challenge, which will require further innovation to enable safe glycoprotein pharmaceutical production.

Accurate and cost-effective prediction of HBsAg titer in industrial scale fermentation process of recombinant Pichia pastoris by using neural network based soft sensor

In the current work, the attempt was made to apply best-fitted artificial neural network (ANN) architecture and the respective training process for predicting final titer of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), produced intracellularly by recombinant Pichia pastoris Mut⁺ in the commercial scale. For this purpose, in large-scale fed-batch fermentation, using methanol for HBsAg induction and cell growth, three parameters of average specific growth rate, biomass yield, and dry biomass concentration-in the definite integral form with respect to fermentation time-were selected as input vectors; the final concentration of HBsAg was selected for the ANN output. Used dataset consists of 38 runs from previous batches; feed-forward ANN 3:5:1 with training algorithm of backpropagation based on a Bayesian regularization was trained and tested with a high degree of accuracy. Implementing the verified ANN for predicting the HBsAg titer of the five new fermentation runs, excluded from the dataset, in the full-scale production, the coefficient of regression and root-mean-square error were found to be 0.969299 and 2.716774, respectively. These results suggest that this verified soft sensor could be an excellent alternative for the current relatively expensive and time-intensive analytical techniques such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Potential use of Pichia pastoris strain SMD1168H expressing DNA topoisomerase I in the screening of potential anti‑breast cancer agents

Cancer chemotherapy possesses high toxicity, particularly when a higher concentration of drugs is administered to patients. Therefore, searching for more effective compounds to reduce the toxicity of treatments, while still producing similar effects as current chemotherapy regimens, is required. Currently, the search for potential anticancer agents involves a random, inaccurate process with strategic deficits and a lack of specific targets. For this reason, the initial in vitro high‑throughput steps in the screening process should be reviewed for rapid identification of the compounds that may serve as anticancer agents. The present study aimed to investigate the potential use of the Pichia pastoris strain SMD1168H expressing DNA topoisomerase I (SMD1168H‑TOPOI) in a yeast‑based assay for screening potential anticancer agents. The cell density that indicated the growth of the recombinant yeast without treatment was first measured by spectrophotometry. Subsequently, the effects of glutamate (agonist) and camptothecin (antagonist) on the recombinant yeast cell density were investigated using the same approach, and finally, the effect of camptothecin on various cell lines was determined and compared with its effect on recombinant yeast. The current study demonstrated that growth was enhanced in SMD1168H‑TOPOI as compared with that in SMD1168H. Glutamate also enhanced the growth of the SMD1168H; however, the growth effect was not enhanced in SMD1168H‑TOPOI treated with glutamate. By contrast, camptothecin caused only lower cell density and growth throughout the treatment of SMD1168H‑TOPOI. The findings of the current study indicated that SMD1168H‑TOPOI has similar characteristics to MDA‑MB‑231 cells; therefore, it can be used in a yeast‑based assay to screen for more effective compounds that may inhibit the growth of highly metastatic breast cancer cells.

High level extracellular production of recombinant human interferon alpha 2b in glycoengineered Pichia pastoris: culture medium optimization, high cell density cultivation and biological characterization

AIMS

The present study was aimed at design of experiments (DoE)- and artificial intelligence-based culture medium optimization for high level extracellular production of a novel recombinant human interferon alpha 2b (huIFNα2b) in glycoengineered Pichia pastoris and its characterization.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The artificial neural network-genetic algorithm model exhibited improved huIFNα2b production and better predictability compared to response surface methodology. The optimized medium exhibited a fivefold increase in huIFNα2b titre compared to the complex medium. A maximum titre of huIFNα2b (436 mg l^-1 ) was achieved using the optimized medium in the bioreactor. Real-time capacitance data from dielectric spectroscopy were utilized to model the growth kinetics with unstructured models. Biological characterization by antiproliferative assay proved that the purified recombinant huIFNα2b was biologically active, exhibiting growth inhibition on breast cancer cell line.

CONCLUSIONS

Culture medium optimization resulted in enhanced production of huIFNα2b in glycoengineered P. pastoris at both shake flask and bioreactor level. The purified huIFNα2b was found to be N-glycosylated and biologically active.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

DoE-based medium optimization strategy significantly improved huIFNα2b production. The antiproliferative activity of huIFNα2b substantiates its potential scope for application in cancer therapy.

A novel nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide control strategy for increasing the cell density of Haemophilus parasuis

Haemophilus parasuis is the causative agent of Glässer's disease and is a major source of economic losses in the swine industry each year. To enhance the production of an inactivated vaccine against H. parasuis, the availability of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) must be carefully controlled to ensure a sufficiently high cell density of H. parasuis. In the present study, the real-time viable cell density of H. parasuis was calculated based on the capacitance of the culture. By assessing the relationship between capacitance and viable cell density/NAD concentration, the NAD supply rate could be adjusted in real time to maintain the NAD concentration at a set value based on the linear relationship between capacitance and NAD consumption. The linear relationship between cell density and addition of NAD indicated that 7.138 × 10⁹ NAD molecules were required to satisfy per cell growth. Five types of NAD supply strategy were used to maintain different NAD concentration for H. parasuis cultivation, and the results revealed that the highest viable cell density (8.57, OD₆₀₀ ) and cell count (1.57 × 10¹⁰ CFU/mL) were obtained with strategy III (NAD concentration maintained at 30 mg/L), which were 1.46- and 1.45- times more, respectively, than cultures with using NAD supply strategy I (NAD concentration maintained at 10 mg/L). An extremely high cell density of H. parasuis was achieved using this NAD supply strategy, and the results demonstrated a convenient and reliable method for determining the real-time viable cell density relative to NAD concentration. Moreover, this method provides a theoretical foundation and an efficient approach for high cell density cultivation of other auxotroph bacteria.

Application of recurrent neural network for online prediction of cell density of recombinant Pichia pastoris producing HBsAg

Artificial neural networking (ANN) seems to be a promising soft sensor for implementing current approaches of quality by design (QbD) and process analytical technologies (PAT) in the biopharmaceutical industry. In this study, we aimed to implement best-fitted ANN architecture for online prediction of the biomass amount of recombinant Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) - expressing intracellular hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) - during the fed-batch fermentation process using methanol as a sole carbon source. For this purpose, at the induction phase of methanol fed-batch fermentation, carbon evolution rate (CER), dissolved oxygen (DO), and methanol feed rate were selected as input vectors and total wet cell weight (WCW) was considered as output vector for the ANN. The obtained results indicated that after training recurrent ANN with data sets of four fed-batch runs, this toolbox could predict the WCW of the next fed-batch fermentation process at each specified time point with high accuracy. The R-squared and root-mean-square error between actual and predicted values were found to be 0.9985 and 13.73, respectively. This verified toolbox could have major importance in the biopharmaceutical industry since recombinant P. pastoris is widely used for the large-scale production of HBsAg.

Production of a recombinant peroxidase in different glyco-engineered Pichia pastoris strains: a morphological and physiological comparison

Background

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is a common host for the production of recombinant proteins. However, hypermannosylation hinders the use of recombinant proteins from yeast in most biopharmaceutical applications. Glyco-engineered yeast strains produce more homogeneously glycosylated proteins, but can be physiologically impaired and show tendencies for cellular agglomeration, hence are hard to cultivate. Further, comprehensive data regarding growth, physiology and recombinant protein production in the controlled environment of a bioreactor are scarce.

Results

A Man₅GlcNAc₂ glycosylating and a Man_8–10GlcNAc₂ glycosylating strain showed similar morphological traits during methanol induced shake-flask cultivations to produce the recombinant model protein HRP C1A. Both glyco-engineered strains displayed larger single and budding cells than a wild type strain as well as strong cellular agglomeration. The cores of these agglomerates appeared to be less viable. Despite agglomeration, the Man₅GlcNAc₂ glycosylating strain showed superior growth, physiology and HRP C1A productivity compared to the Man_8–10GlcNAc₂ glycosylating strain in shake-flasks and in the bioreactor. Conducting dynamic methanol pulsing revealed that HRP C1A productivity of the Man₅GlcNAc₂ glycosylating strain is best at a temperature of 30 °C.

Conclusion

This study provides the first comprehensive evaluation of growth, physiology and recombinant protein production of a Man₅GlcNAc₂ glycosylating strain in the controlled environment of a bioreactor. Furthermore, it is evident that cellular agglomeration is likely triggered by a reduced glycan length of cell surface glycans, but does not necessarily lead to lower metabolic activity and recombinant protein production. Man₅GlcNAc₂ glycosylated HRP C1A production is feasible, yields active protein similar to the wild type strain, but thermal stability of HRP C1A is negatively affected by reduced glycosylation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-018-1032-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The growth of Pichia pastoris Mut+ on methanol-glycerol mixtures fits to interactive dual-limited kinetics: model development and application to optimised fed-batch operation for heterologous protein production

The methanol-glycerol co-feeding during the induction stage for heterologous protein production in Pichia pastoris has shown significant productive applications. Available model analysis applied to this dual-limited condition is scarce and normally does not consider the interaction effects between the substrates. In this work, a dual-limited growth model of P. pastoris considering an interactive kinetic effect was applied to an optimised fed-batch process production of heterologous Rhizopus oryzae lipase (ROL). In the proposed model, the growth kinetics on glycerol is fully expressed, whereas methanol kinetics is modulated by the co-metabolisation of glycerol, resulting in an enhancing effect of glycerol-specific growth rate. The modelling approach of fed-batch cultures also included the methanol volatilisation caused by the aeration that was found to be a not-negligible phenomenon. The model predicts the ability of P. pastoris to keep control of the methanol concentration in the broth during ROL-optimised production process in fed batch and fits satisfactorily the specific cell growth rate and ROL production. Implications of interaction effect are discussed applying the general procedure of modelling approach.

Engineering strategies for enhanced production of protein and bio-products in Pichia pastoris: A review

Pichia pastoris has been recognized as one of the most industrially important hosts for heterologous protein production. Despite its high protein productivity, the optimization of P. pastoris cultivation is still imperative due to strain- and product-specific challenges such as promoter strength, methanol utilization type and oxygen demand. To address the issues, strategies involving genetic and process engineering have been employed. Optimization of codon usage and gene dosage, as well as engineering of promoters, protein secretion pathways and methanol metabolic pathways have proved beneficial to innate protein expression levels. Large-scale production of proteins via high cell density fermentation additionally relies on the optimization of process parameters including methanol feed rate, induction temperature and specific growth rate. Recent progress related to the enhanced production of proteins in P. pastoris via various genetic engineering and cultivation strategies are reviewed. Insight into the regulation of the P. pastoris alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) promoter and the development of methanol-free systems are highlighted. Novel cultivation strategies such as mixed substrate feeding are discussed. Recent advances regarding substrate and product monitoring techniques are also summarized. Application of P. pastoris to the production of biodiesel and other value-added products via metabolic engineering are also reviewed. P. pastoris is becoming an indispensable platform through the use of these combined engineering strategies.

Expression in Pichia pastoris and characterization of two novel dirigent proteins for atropselective formation of gossypol

We established an efficient fed-batch fermentation process for two novel dirigent proteins from cotton plants, GbDIR2 from Gossypium barbadense and GhDIR3 from G. hirsutum, using the engineered Pichia pastoris GlycoSwitch® SuperMan₅ strain to prevent hyperglycosylation. The two (His)₆-tagged proteins were purified by metal-chelate affinity chromatography and obtained in quantities of 12 and 15 mg L^-1 of culture volume, respectively. Glycosylation sites were identified for the native and for the enzymatically deglycosylated proteins by mass spectrometry, confirming five to six of the seven predicted glycosylation sites in the NxS/T sequence context. The predominant glycan structure was Man₅GlcNAc₂ with, however, a significant contribution of Man_4-10GlcNAc₂. Both dirigent proteins (DIRs) mediated the formation of (+)-gossypol by atropselective coupling of hemigossypol radicals. Similar to previously characterized DIRs, GbDIR2 and GhDIR3 lacked oxidizing activity and depended on an oxidizing system (laccase/O₂) for the generation of substrate radicals. In contrast to DIRs involved in the biosynthesis of lignans, glycosylation was not essential for function. Quantitative enzymatic deglycosylation yielded active GbDIR2 and GhDIR3 in excellent purity. The described fermentation process in combination with enzymatic deglycosylation will pave the way for mechanistic and structural studies and, eventually, the application of cotton DIRs in a biomimetic approach towards atropselective biaryl synthesis.

Heterologous expression of Aspergillus terreus fructosyltransferase in Kluyveromyces lactis

Fructo-oligosaccharides are prebiotic and hypocaloric sweeteners that are usually extracted from chicory. They can also be produced from sucrose using fructosyltransferases, but the only commercial enzyme suitable for this purpose is Pectinex Ultra, which is produced with Aspergillus aculeatus. Here we used the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis to express a secreted recombinant fructosyltransferase from the inulin-producing fungus Aspergillus terreus. A synthetic codon-optimised version of the putative β-fructofuranosidase ATEG 04996 (XP 001214174.1) from A. terreus NIH2624 was secreted as a functional protein into the extracellular medium. At 60°C, the purified A. terreus enzyme generated the same pattern of oligosaccharides as Pectinex Ultra, but at lower temperatures it also produced oligomers with up to seven units. We achieved activities of up to 986.4U/mL in high-level expression experiments, which is better than previous reports of optimised Aspergillus spp. fermentations.

GM-CSF treatment prevents respiratory syncytial virus-induced pulmonary exacerbation responses in postallergic mice by stimulating alveolar macrophage maturation

BACKGROUND

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a frequent cause of asthma exacerbations, yet the susceptibility of asthmatic patients to RSV is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to address the contribution of resident alveolar macrophages (rAMs) to susceptibility to RSV infection in mice that recovered from allergic airway eosinophilia.

METHODS

Mice were infected with RSV virus after clearance of allergic airway inflammation (AAI). The contribution of post-AAI rAMs was studied in vivo by means of clodronate liposome-mediated depletion, adoptive transfer, and treatment with recombinant cytokines before RSV infection.

RESULTS

After clearing the allergic bronchial inflammation, post-AAI mice had bronchial hyperreactivity and increased inflammatory cell influx when infected with RSV compared with nonallergic mice, whereas viral clearance was comparable in both mouse groups. Post-AAI rAMs were necessary and sufficient for mediating these proinflammatory effects. In post-AAI mice the residing CD11c(hi) autofluorescent rAM population did not upregulate the terminal differentiation marker sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin F and overproduced TNF and IL-6 through increased nuclear factor κB nuclear translocation. In line with these results, post-AAI lungs had reduced levels of the rAM maturation cytokine GM-CSF. Intratracheal administration of GM-CSF induced final rAM maturation in post-AAI mice and prevented the increased susceptibility to RSV-induced hyperreactivity and inflammation.

CONCLUSION

Defective production of GM-CSF leads to insufficient post-AAI rAM maturation in mice that recovered from an AAI, causing increased susceptibility to RSV-induced immunopathology. Promoting the differentiation of post-AAI rAMs might be a therapeutic option for preventing RSV-induced exacerbations in human asthmatic patients.

The human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE671--Towards an innovative production platform for glycosylated biopharmaceuticals

The market of therapeutic glycoproteins (including coagulation factors, antibodies, cytokines and hormones) is one of the profitable, fast-growing and challenging sectors of the biopharmaceutical industry. Although mammalian cell culture is still expensive and technically complex, the ability to produce desired post-translational modifications, in particular glycosylation, is a major issue. Glycans can influence ligand binding, serum half-life as well as biological activity or product immunogenicity. Aiming to establish a novel production platform for recombinant glycoproteins, the human TE671 cell line was investigated. Since the initial analysis of cell membrane proteins showed a promising glycosylation of TE671 cells for biotechnological purposes, we focused on the recombinant expression of two model glycoproteins of therapeutical relevance. The optimization of the cell transfection procedure and serum-free expression succeeded for the human serine protease inhibitor alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) and the hematopoietic cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). N-glycan analyses of both purified proteins by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry provided first fundamental insights into the TE671 glycosylation potential. Besides protein specific pattern, strong distinctions - in particular for N-glycan fucosylation and sialylation - were observed depending on the medium conditions of the respective TE671 cell cultivations. The cell line's ability to synthesize complex and highly sialylated N-glycan structures has been shown. Our results demonstrate the TE671 cell line as a serious alternative to other existing human expression systems.

Cloning and expression of recombinant human GMCSF from Pichia pastoris GS115--a progressive strategy for economic production

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (hGMCSF) is a proinflammatory cytokine and hematopoietic growth factor. Recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGMCSF) serves as a biotherapeutic agent in bone marrow stimulations, vaccine development, gene therapy approaches, and stem cell mobilization. The objective of the present study includes construction of rhGMCSF having N-terminal intein tag, expression of protein both extracellularly and intracellularly from yeast expression system followed by its purification in a single step by affinity chromatography. The soluble and biologically active rhGMCSF was obtained from Pichia pastoris GS115. About 122 g DCW/L of final yield was obtained for both cytosolic and secretory expression of Pichia GS115 strain. Purified intracellular hGMCSF was 420 mg/L with a specific activity of 2.1×10⁸ IU/mg, and the purified extracellular recombinant protein was 360 mg/L with a specific activity of 1.9×10⁸ IU/mg. The data presented here indicate the possibilities of exploring the economic ways of producing the rhGMCSF.

Inactivation of a GAL4-like transcription factor improves cell fitness and product yield in glycoengineered Pichia pastoris strains

With a completely reengineered and humanized glycosylation pathway, glycoengineered Pichia pastoris has emerged as a promising production host for the manufacture of therapeutic glycoproteins. However, the extensive genetic modifications have also negatively affected the overall fitness levels of the glycoengineered host cells. To make glycoengineered Pichia strains more compatible with a scalable industrial fermentation process, we sought to identify genetic solutions to broadly improve cell robustness during fermentation. In this study, we report that mutations within the Pichia pastoris ATT1 (PpATT1) gene (a homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 [ScGAL4] transcriptional activator) dramatically increased the cellular fitness levels of glycoengineered Pichia strains. We demonstrate that deletion of the PpATT1 gene enabled glycoengineered Pichia strains to improve their thermal tolerance levels, reduce their cell lysis defects, and greatly improve fermentation robustness. The extension of the duration of fermentation enabled the PpATT1-modified glycoengineered Pichia strains to increase their product yields significantly without any sacrifice in product quality. Because the ATT1 gene could be deleted from any Pichia strains, including empty hosts and protein-expressing production strains alike, we suggest that the findings described in this study are broadly applicable to any Pichia strains used for the production of therapeutic proteins, including monoclonal antibodies, Fc fusions, peptides, hormones, and growth factors.

Expression of recombinant human mast cell chymase with Asn-linked glycans in glycoengineered Pichia pastoris

Recombinant human mast cell chymase (rhChymase) was expressed in secreted form as an active enzyme in the SuperMan5 strain of GlycoSwitch® Pichia pastoris, which is engineered to produce proteins with (Man)5(GlcNAc)2 Asn-linked glycans. Cation exchange and heparin affinity chromatography yielded 5mg of active rhChymase per liter of fermentation medium. Purified rhChymase migrated on SDS-PAGE as a single band of 30 kDa and treatment with peptide N-glycosidase F decreased this to 25 kDa, consistent with the established properties of native human chymase (hChymase). Polyclonal antibodies against hChymase detected rhChymase by Western blot. Active site titration with Eglin C, a potent chymase inhibitor, quantified the concentration of purified active enzyme. Kinetic analyses with succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe (suc-AAPF) p-nitroanilide and thiobenzyl ester synthetic substrates showed that heparin significantly reduced KM, whereas heparin effects on kcat were minor. Pure rhChymase with Asn-linked glycans closely resembles hChymase. This bioengineering approach avoided hyperglycosylation and provides a source of active rhChymase for other studies as well as a foundation for production of recombinant enzyme with human glycosylation patterns.

Biopharmaceutical discovery and production in yeast

The selection of an expression platform for recombinant biopharmaceuticals is often centered upon suitable product titers and critical quality attributes, including post-translational modifications. Although notable differences between microbial, yeast, plant, and mammalian host systems exist, recent advances have greatly mitigated any inherent liabilities of yeasts. Yeast expression platforms are important to both the supply of marketed biopharmaceuticals and the pipelines of novel therapeutics. In this review, recent advances in yeast-based expression of biopharmaceuticals will be discussed. The advantages of using glycoengineered yeast as a production host and in the discovery space will be illustrated. These advancements, in turn, are transforming yeast platforms from simple production systems to key technological assets in the discovery and selection of biopharmaceutical lead candidates.

Determination of a dynamic feeding strategy for recombinant Pichia pastoris strains

The knowledge of certain strain specific parameters of recombinant P. pastoris strains is required to be able to set up a feeding regime for fed-batch cultivations. To date, these parameters are commonly determined either by time-consuming and labor-intensive continuous cultivations or by several, consecutive fed-batch cultivations. Here, we describe a fast method based on batch experiments with methanol pulses to extract certain strain characteristic parameters, which are required to set up a dynamic feeding strategy for P. pastoris strains based on specific substrate uptake rate (q(s)). We further describe in detail the course of actions which have to be taken to obtain the desired dynamics during feeding.

Strains and molecular tools for recombinant protein production in Pichia pastoris

Within the last two decades, the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris has become an important alternative to E. coli or mammalian cell lines for the production of recombinant proteins. Easy handling, strong promoters, and high cell density cultivations as well as the capability of posttranslational modifications are some of the major benefits of this yeast. The high secretion capacity and low level of endogenously secreted proteins further promoted the rapid development of a versatile Pichia pastoris toolbox. This chapter reviews common and new "Pichia tools" and their specific features. Special focus is given to expression strains, such as different methanol utilization, protease-deficient or glycoengineered strains, combined with application highlights. Different promoters and signal sequences are also discussed.

New opportunities by synthetic biology for biopharmaceutical production in Pichia pastoris

Biopharmaceuticals are an integral part of modern medicine and pharmacy. Both, the development and the biotechnological production of biopharmaceuticals are highly cost-intensive and require suitable expression systems. In this review we discuss established and emerging tools for reengineering the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris for biopharmaceutical production. Recent advancements of this industrial expression system through synthetic biology include synthetic promoters to avoid methanol induction and to fine-tune protein production. New platform strains and molecular cloning tools as well as in vivo glycoengineering to produce humanized glycoforms have made P. pastoris an important host for biopharmaceutical production.

Quantitative comparison of dynamic physiological feeding profiles for recombinant protein production with Pichia pastoris

Pichia pastoris is widely used for the production of recombinant proteins in industrial biotechnology. In general, industrial production processes describe fed-batch processes based on the specific growth rate. Recently, we introduced the specific substrate uptake rate (q_s) as a novel parameter to design fed-batch strategies for P. pastoris. We showed that a dynamic feeding strategy where the feed was adjusted in steps to the maximum specific substrate uptake rate was superior to more traditional strategies in terms of specific productivity. In the present study, we compare three different dynamic feeding strategies based on q_s for a recombinant P. pastoris strain with respect to cell physiology, methanol accumulation, productivity and product quality. By comparing (A) a feeding profile at constant high q_s, (B) a periodically adjusted feeding profile for a stepwise q_s ramp, and (C) a feeding profile at linear increasing q_s, we evaluated potential effects of the mode of feeding. Although a dynamic feeding strategy with stepwise increases of q_s to q_{s max} resulted in the highest specific productivity, a feeding profile where the feeding rate was stepwise increased to a constant high q_s value was superior in terms of the amount of active enzyme produced and in the amount of accumulated methanol. Furthermore, this feeding strategy could be run automatically by integrating an online calculator tool, thus rendering manual interventions by the operator unnecessary.

Production of antibody derivatives in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

New antibody derivatives are continuously being generated to interact with a range of therapeutic targets. The cost-effective and efficient production of these and other antibody derivatives is crucial for their further success. Here, we describe the construction of the expression vectors needed for heterologous expression of a Fab fragment in the yeast Pichia pastoris. The experimental conditions for lab-scale expressions are discussed, and an overview of an efficient purification strategy is presented.

A fast approach to determine a fed batch feeding profile for recombinant Pichia pastoris strains

Background

The microorganism Pichia pastoris is a commonly used microbial host for the expression of recombinant proteins in biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry. To speed up process development, a fast methodology to determine strain characteristic parameters, which are needed to subsequently set up fed batch feeding profiles, is required.

Results

Here, we show the general applicability of a novel approach to quantify a certain minimal set of bioprocess-relevant parameters, i.e. the adaptation time of the culture to methanol, the specific substrate uptake rate during the adaptation phase and the maximum specific substrate uptake rate, based on fast and easy-to-do batch cultivations with repeated methanol pulses in a batch culture. A detailed analysis of the adaptation of different P. pastoris strains to methanol was conducted and revealed that each strain showed very different characteristics during adaptation, illustrating the need of individual screenings for an optimal parameter definition during this phase. Based on the results obtained in batch cultivations, dynamic feeding profiles based on the specific substrate uptake rate were employed for different P. pastoris strains. In these experiments the maximum specific substrate uptake rate, which had been defined in batch experiments, also represented the upper limit of methanol uptake, underlining the validity of the determined process-relevant parameters and the overall experimental strategy.

Conclusion

In this study, we show that a fast approach to determine a minimal set of strain characteristic parameters based on easy-to-do batch cultivations with methanol pulses is generally applicable for different P. pastoris strains and that dynamic fed batch strategies can be designed on the specific substrate uptake rate without running the risk of methanol accumulation.

A dynamic method based on the specific substrate uptake rate to set up a feeding strategy for Pichia pastoris

Background

Pichia pastoris is one of the most important host organisms for the recombinant production of proteins in industrial biotechnology. To date, strain specific parameters, which are needed to set up feeding profiles for fed batch cultivations, are determined by time-consuming continuous cultures or consecutive fed batch cultivations, operated at different parameter sets.

Results

Here, we developed a novel approach based on fast and easy to do batch cultivations with methanol pulses enabling a more rapid determination of the strain specific parameters specific substrate uptake rate q_s, specific productivity q_p and the adaption time (Δtime_adapt) of the culture to methanol. Based on q_s, an innovative feeding strategy to increase the productivity of a recombinant Pichia pastoris strain was developed. Higher specific substrate uptake rates resulted in increased specific productivity, which also showed a time dependent trajectory. A dynamic feeding strategy, where the setpoints for q_s were increased stepwise until a q_{s max} of 2.0 mmol·g^-1·h^-1 resulted in the highest specific productivity of 11 U·g^-1·h^-1.

Conclusions

Our strategy describes a novel and fast approach to determine strain specific parameters of a recombinant Pichia pastoris strain to set up feeding profiles solely based on the specific substrate uptake rate. This approach is generic and will allow application to other products and other hosts.