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Lederle M, Tric M, Roth T, Schütte L, Rattenholl A, Lütkemeyer D, Wölfl S, Werner T, Wiedemann P. Continuous optical in-line glucose monitoring and control in CHO cultures contributes to enhanced metabolic efficiency while maintaining darbepoetin alfa product quality. Biotechnol J 2021; 16:e2100088. [PMID: 34008350 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202100088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Great efforts are directed towards improving productivity, consistency and quality of biopharmaceutical processes and products. One particular area is the development of new sensors for continuous monitoring of critical bioprocess parameters by using online or in-line monitoring systems. Recently, we developed a glucose biosensor applicable in single-use, in-line and long-term glucose monitoring in mammalian cell bioreactors. Now, we integrated this sensor in an automated glucose monitoring and feeding system capable of maintaining stable glucose levels, even at very low concentrations. We compared this fed-batch feedback system at both low (< 1 mM) and high (40 mM) glucose levels with traditional batch culture methods, focusing on glycosylation and glycation of the recombinant protein darbepoetin alfa (DPO) produced by a CHO cell line. We evaluated cell growth, metabolite and product concentration under different glucose feeding strategies and show that continuous feeding, even at low glucose levels, has no harmful effects on DPO quantity and quality. We conclude that our system is capable of tight glucose level control throughout extended bioprocesses and has the potential to improve performance where constant maintenance of glucose levels is critical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Lederle
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany.,Pharmaceutical Biology, Bioanalytics and Molecular Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mircea Tric
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany.,Pharmaceutical Biology, Bioanalytics and Molecular Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tatjana Roth
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Lina Schütte
- Center for Applied Chemistry, Institute of Food Chemistry, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany
| | - Anke Rattenholl
- Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Institute of Biotechnological Process Engineering, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Dirk Lütkemeyer
- Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Institute of Biotechnological Process Engineering, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Stefan Wölfl
- Pharmaceutical Biology, Bioanalytics and Molecular Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tobias Werner
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Philipp Wiedemann
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
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Karengera E, Durocher Y, De Crescenzo G, Henry O. Combining metabolic and process engineering strategies to improve recombinant glycoprotein production and quality. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2017; 101:7837-7851. [PMID: 28924963 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-017-8513-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 09/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Increasing recombinant protein production while ensuring a high and consistent protein quality remains a challenge in mammalian cell culture process development. In this work, we combined a nutrient substitution approach with a metabolic engineering strategy that improves glucose utilization efficiency. This combination allowed us to tackle both lactate and ammonia accumulation and investigate on potential synergistic effects on protein production and quality. To this end, HEK293 cells overexpressing the pyruvate yeast carboxylase (PYC2) and their parental cells, both stably producing the therapeutic glycoprotein interferon α2b (IFNα2b), were cultured in media deprived of glutamine but containing chosen substitutes. Among the tested substitutes, pyruvate led to the best improvement in growth (integral of viable cell density) for both cell lines in batch cultures, whereas the culture of PYC2 cells without neither glutamine nor any substitute displayed surprisingly enhanced IFNα2b production. The drastic reduction in both lactate and ammonia in the cultures translated into extended high viability conditions and an increase in recombinant protein titer by up to 47% for the parental cells and the PYC2 cells. Product characterization performed by surface plasmon resonance biosensing using Sambucus nigra (SNA) lectin revealed that the increase in yield was however accompanied by a reduction in the degree of sialylation of the product. Supplementing cultures with glycosylation precursors and a cofactor were effective at counterbalancing the lack of glutamine and allowed improvement in IFNα2b quality as evaluated by lectin affinity. Our study provides a strategy to reconcile protein productivity and quality and highlights the advantages of PYC2-overexpressing cells in glutamine-free conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Karengera
- Department of Chemical Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada
| | - Yves Durocher
- Human Health Therapeutics Portfolio, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, Canada
| | - Gregory De Crescenzo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada
| | - Olivier Henry
- Department of Chemical Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada.
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