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Jari M, Abdoli S, Bazi Z, Shamsabadi FT, Roshanmehr F, Shahbazi M. Enhancing protein production and growth in chinese hamster ovary cells through miR-107 overexpression. AMB Express 2024; 14:16. [PMID: 38302631 PMCID: PMC10834913 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-024-01670-y] [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: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are widely employed as host cells for biopharmaceutical production. The manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals poses several challenges, including restricted growth potential and inadequate productivity of the host cells. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in regulating gene expression and are considered highly promising tools for cell engineering to enhance protein production. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of miR-107, which is recognized as an onco-miR, on erythropoietin-producing CHO cells (CHO-hEPO). To assess the impact of miR-107 on CHO cells, a DNA plasmid containing miR-107 was introduced to CHO-hEPO cells through transfection. Cell proliferation and viability were assessed using the trypan blue dye exclusion method. Cell cycle analysis was conducted by utilizing propidium iodide (PI) staining. The quantification of EPO was determined using an immunoassay test. Moreover, the impact of miR-107 on the expression of downstream target genes was evaluated using qRT-PCR. Our findings highlight and underscore the substantial impact of transient miR-107 overexpression, which led to a remarkable 2.7-fold increase in EPO titers and a significant 1.6-fold increase in the specific productivity of CHO cells (p < 0.01). Furthermore, this intervention resulted in significant enhancements in cell viability and growth rate (p < 0.05). Intriguingly, the overexpression of miR‑107 was linked to the downregulation of LATS2, PTEN, and TSC1 genes while concurrently driving upregulation in transcript levels of MYC, YAP, mTOR, and S6K genes within transgenic CHO cells. In conclusion, this study collectively underscores the feasibility of utilizing cancer-associated miRNAs as a powerful tool for CHO cell engineering. However, more in-depth exploration is warranted to unravel the precise molecular intricacies of miR-107's effects in the context of CHO cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Jari
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Shahriyar Abdoli
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Zahra Bazi
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Tash Shamsabadi
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Farnaz Roshanmehr
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Majid Shahbazi
- Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Shastkola Road, Falsafi Complex, Gorgan, Zip code: 4934174611, Iran.
- AryaTina Gene (ATG) Biopharmaceutical Company Gorgan, Gorgan, Iran.
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2
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Bachhav B, de Rossi J, Llanos CD, Segatori L. Cell factory engineering: Challenges and opportunities for synthetic biology applications. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:2441-2459. [PMID: 36859509 PMCID: PMC10440303 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
The production of high-quality recombinant proteins is critical to maintaining a continuous supply of biopharmaceuticals, such as therapeutic antibodies. Engineering mammalian cell factories presents a number of limitations typically associated with the proteotoxic stress induced upon aberrant accumulation of off-pathway protein folding intermediates, which eventually culminate in the induction of apoptosis. In this review, we will discuss advances in cell engineering and their applications at different hierarchical levels of control of the expression of recombinant proteins, from transcription and translational to posttranslational modifications and subcellular trafficking. We also highlight challenges and unique opportunities to apply modern synthetic biology tools to the design of programmable cell factories for improved biomanufacturing of therapeutic proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhagyashree Bachhav
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, United States
| | - Jacopo de Rossi
- Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston, United States
| | - Carlos D. Llanos
- Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston, United States
| | - Laura Segatori
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, United States
- Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, United States
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, United States
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3
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Bazaz M, Adeli A, Azizi M, Karimipoor M, Mahboudi F, Davoudi N. Overexpression of miR-32 in Chinese hamster ovary cells increases production of Fc-fusion protein. AMB Express 2023; 13:45. [PMID: 37160545 PMCID: PMC10170017 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-023-01540-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The demand for industrial genetically modified host cells were increased with the growth of the biopharmaceutical market. Numerous studies on improving host cell productivity have shown that altering host cell growth and viability through genetic engineering can increase recombinant protein production. During the last decades, it was demonstrated that overexpression or downregulation of some microRNAs in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells as the host cell in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, can improve their productivity. The selection of microRNA targets has been based on their previously identified role in human cancers. MicroRNA-32 (miR-32), which is conserved between humans and hamsters (Crisetulus griseus), was shown to play a role in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis in some human cancers. In this study, we investigated the effect of miR-32 overexpression on the productivity of CHO-VEGF-trap cells. Our results indicated that stable overexpression of miR-32 could dramatically increase the productivity of CHO cells by 1.8-fold. It also significantly increases cell viability, batch culture longevity, and cell growth. To achieve these results, following the construction of a single clone producing an Fc-fusion protein, we transfected cells with a pLexJRed-miR-32 plasmid to stably produce the microRNA and evaluate the impact of mir-32 overexpression on cell productivity, growth and viability in compare with scrambled control. Our findings highlight the application of miRNAs as engineering tools and indicated that miR-32 could be a target for engineering CHO cells to increase cell productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masoume Bazaz
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ahmad Adeli
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Azizi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Morteza Karimipoor
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Freidoun Mahboudi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Noushin Davoudi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
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4
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Allard JL, Shields KA, Munro T, Lua LHL. Design and production strategies for developing a recombinant butyrylcholinesterase medical countermeasure for Organophosphorus poisoning. Chem Biol Interact 2022; 363:109996. [PMID: 35654125 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2022.109996] [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: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Organophosphorus nerve agents represent a serious chemical threat due to their ease of production and scale of impact. The recent use of the nerve agent Novichok has re-emphasised the need for broad-spectrum medical countermeasures (MCMs) to these agents. However, current MCMs are limited. Plasma derived human butyrylcholinesterase (huBChE) is a promising novel bioscavenger MCM strategy, but is prohibitively expensive to isolate from human plasma at scale. Efforts to produce recombinant huBChE (rBChE) in various protein expression platforms have failed to achieve key critical attributes of huBChE such as circulatory half-life. These proteins often lack critical features such as tetrameric structure and requisite post-translational modifications. This review evaluates previous attempts to generate rBChE and assesses recent advances in mammalian cell expression and protein engineering strategies that could be deployed to achieve the required half-life and yield for a viable rBChE MCM. This includes the addition of a proline-rich attachment domain, fusion proteins, post translational modifications, expression system selection and optimised downstream processes. Whilst challenges remain, a combinatorial approach of these strategies demonstrates potential as a technically feasible approach to achieving a bioactive and cost effective bioscavenger MCM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanne L Allard
- Defence Science and Technology Group, Fishermans Bend, Victoria, 3207, Australia; The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
| | - Katherine A Shields
- Defence Science and Technology Group, Fishermans Bend, Victoria, 3207, Australia
| | - TrentP Munro
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Linda H L Lua
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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5
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Recent developments in miRNA based recombinant protein expression in CHO. Biotechnol Lett 2022; 44:671-681. [PMID: 35507207 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-022-03250-1] [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: 09/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that the growing demand for recombinant therapeutic proteins has led to the expansion of the biopharmaceutical industry and the development of strategies to increase recombinant protein production in mammalian cell lines such as SP2/0 HEK and particularly Chinese hamster ovary cells. For a long time now, most investigations have been focused on increasing host cell productivity using genetic manipulating of cellular processes like cell cycle, apoptosis, cell growth, protein secretory and other pathways. In recent decades MicroRNAs beside different genetic engineering tools (e.g., TALEN, ZFN, and Crisper/Cas) have attracted further attention as a tool in the genetic engineering of host cells to increase protein expression levels. Their ability to simultaneously target multiple mRNAs involved in one or more cellular processes made them a favorable tool in this field. Accordingly, this study aimed to review the methods of selecting target miRNA for cell line engineering, miRNA gain- or loss-of-function strategies, examples of laboratory and pilot studies in this field and discussed advantages and disadvantages of this technology.
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Donini R, Haslam SM, Kontoravdi C. Glycoengineering Chinese hamster ovary cells: a short history. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 49:915-931. [PMID: 33704400 PMCID: PMC8106501 DOI: 10.1042/bst20200840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Biotherapeutic glycoproteins have revolutionised the field of pharmaceuticals, with new discoveries and continuous improvements underpinning the rapid growth of this industry. N-glycosylation is a critical quality attribute of biotherapeutic glycoproteins that influences the efficacy, half-life and immunogenicity of these drugs. This review will focus on the advances and future directions of remodelling N-glycosylation in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which are the workhorse of recombinant biotherapeutic production, with particular emphasis on antibody products, using strategies such as cell line and protein backbone engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Donini
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - Stuart M. Haslam
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - Cleo Kontoravdi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
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Inwood S, Abaandou L, Betenbaugh M, Shiloach J. Improved protein expression in HEK293 cells by over-expressing miR-22 and knocking-out its target gene, HIPK1. N Biotechnol 2019; 54:28-33. [PMID: 31425885 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2019.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Stable cell lines can continuously produce a recombinant protein without the need to repeatedly engineer the genome. In a previous study HIPK1, Homeodomain-interacting Protein Kinase 1, was found to be a target of the microRNA miR-22 that, when repressed, improved expression of both an intracellular and a secreted protein. In this report, HEK293 cells stably over-expressing miR-22 were compared with HEK293 with knockout of HIPK1, executed by CRISPR/Cas9, for their ability to improve recombinant protein expression. In this model case of luciferase, over-expression of miR-22 improved overall activity 2.4-fold while the HIPK1 knockout improved overall activity 4.7-fold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Inwood
- Biotechnology Core Laboratory NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA
| | - Laura Abaandou
- Biotechnology Core Laboratory NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
| | - Michael Betenbaugh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA
| | - Joseph Shiloach
- Biotechnology Core Laboratory NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA.
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Amann T, Schmieder V, Faustrup Kildegaard H, Borth N, Andersen MR. Genetic engineering approaches to improve posttranslational modification of biopharmaceuticals in different production platforms. Biotechnol Bioeng 2019; 116:2778-2796. [PMID: 31237682 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The number of approved biopharmaceuticals, where product quality attributes remain of major importance, is increasing steadily. Within the available variety of expression hosts, the production of biopharmaceuticals faces diverse limitations with respect to posttranslational modifications (PTM), while different biopharmaceuticals demand different forms and specifications of PTMs for proper functionality. With the growing toolbox of genetic engineering technologies, it is now possible to address general as well as host- or biopharmaceutical-specific product quality obstacles. In this review, we present diverse expression systems derived from mammalians, bacteria, yeast, plants, and insects as well as available genetic engineering tools. We focus on genes for knockout/knockdown and overexpression for meaningful approaches to improve biopharmaceutical PTMs and discuss their applicability as well as future trends in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Amann
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Valerie Schmieder
- acib GmbH-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria.,Department of Biotechnology, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helene Faustrup Kildegaard
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Nicole Borth
- Department of Biotechnology, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mikael Rørdam Andersen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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Naddafi F, Shirazi FH, Talebkhan Y, Tabarzad M, Barkhordari F, Aliabadi Farahani Z, Bayat E, Moazzami R, Mahboudi F, Davami F. A comparative study of the bispecific monoclonal antibody, blinatumomab expression in CHO cells and E. coli. Prep Biochem Biotechnol 2018; 48:961-967. [PMID: 30461361 DOI: 10.1080/10826068.2018.1525562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The "bispecifics" market improved over the past decade due to the development of many technological platforms including bispecific T cell engagers (BiTEs). The approval of blinatumomab, the most advanced bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) in clinical trials, can be a significant milestone in the development of bispecific antibodies. Both Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and E. coli strain are considered as the most widely used hosts for the large-scale production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Since both of the economic and qualitative aspects of protein production are important in industry, selection of a suitable protein expression system is very critical. The BsAb gene was cloned into the expression vectors FC550A-1, pcDNA3.1 (+), and PET22b and 6 × His-tagged BsAb then purified on a Ni-NTA chromatography column. Both SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis of the purified protein demonstrated that blinatumomab was successfully expressed as a 55 kDa in both expression systems. The antigen-binding properties of blinatumomab were compared in the mammalian system versus Escherichia coli. The results showed that the purified antibody from a mammalian expression system has better binding activity than the one from E. coli host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Naddafi
- a Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center , Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Farshad H Shirazi
- a Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center , Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Yeganeh Talebkhan
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Maryam Tabarzad
- c Protein Technology Research Center , Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | | | - Zahra Aliabadi Farahani
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran.,d Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch , Islamic Azad University , Tehran , Iran
| | - Elham Bayat
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran.,e Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch , Islamic Azad University , Tehran , Iran
| | - Reza Moazzami
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Fereidoun Mahboudi
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Fatemeh Davami
- b Biotechnology Research Center , Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
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