Metabolic rates, growth phase, and mRNA levels influence cell-specific antibody production levels from in vitro-cultured mammalian cells at sub-physiological temperatures.

Previous work has shown that recombinant protein yield can be improved from in vitro-cultured mammalian cells by culturing at sub-physiological temperatures, although this effect is cell line and product dependent. The mechanism(s) by which low temperature leads to enhanced product yield are currently unknown; however, recent reports suggest that increased mRNA levels at sub-physiological temperatures may be largely responsible for this. Here, we have investigated whether low-temperature cultivation of cell lines selected for antibody production at 37 degrees C leads to changes in heavy- and light-chain mRNA levels and if this is reflected in antibody yields. Low-temperature in vitro culturing resulted in reduced viable cell concentration, prolonged cell viability, a reduction in metabolite consumption and production, cell cycle arrest in both CHO and NS0 cells, and changes in the levels of heavy- and light-chain mRNA. Despite increases in the level of heavy- and light-chain mRNA upon culturing at 32 degrees C in our model CHO cell line, this did not result in increased total product yield; however, changes in cell-specific yields were observed that reflected the metabolic rate of glucose utilization and changes in mRNA levels.

Transient gene expression levels from multigene expression vectors.

Multigene expression vectors are commonly utilized whereby the (over)expression of two or more genes is desired simultaneously and often at supposedly equivalent levels. We have characterized dual-gene and pEE14.4 RlucMFluc expression plasmids in which the second hCMV-MIE promoter is replaced with a c-myc IRES to enable one-step coordinated expression of multiple genes in eukaryotic cells. The efficacy of these plasmids has been tested in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using renilla and firefly luciferase reporter genes, with the reporter gene in either position 1 or 2 from the 5' to 3' direction, respectively. The dual-gene constructs gave enhanced second position gene expression levels compared to the first gene during transient transfection experiments (4- to 50-fold increase 24 h post-transfection). The pEE14.4 RlucMFluc plasmid gave enhanced first cistron expression compared to the second cistron ( approximately 19-fold increase 24 h post-transfection). More equivalent transient expression levels were obtained by undertaking co-transfection of the appropriate single gene plasmids. Reporter gene mRNA levels in the transfected cells were also evaluated by qRT-PCR and compared to the observed protein expression levels. Analysis of the resulting data showed that transcriptional limitation of the first cistron in the dual-gene expression system and not translational limitation was the major limiting factor. Taken together these data suggest that relative protein expression levels expected from heterologous gene products in a multigene vector cannot be predicted on copy number alone and it is important to characterize multigene or oligocistronic systems prior to use.

The cold-shock response in mammalian cells: investigating the HeLa cell cold-shock proteome.

In recent years there have been a number of reports that suggest the sub-physiological (<37 degrees C) temperature in vitro culturing of mammalian cells can result in enhanced heterologous protein production. Despite these reports, the mechanisms by which mammalian cells respond to such conditions are largely unknown. We therefore set out to use a model in vitro culture HeLa cell system to begin investigating the cold-shock response in mammalian cell systems. Sub-physiological temperature cultivation resulted in reduced growth and proliferation and a lower total cell protein content. Proteomic analysis confirmed that HeLa cells actively respond to sub-physiological temperature by up-regulating a number of proteins and immunoblot analysis confirmed that specific proteins are indeed up-regulated in a time and temperature dependent manner. Additional work is likely to improve our understanding of the cold-shock response in mammalian cells and identify candidate target proteins for cell engineering to further enhance heterologous protein production at sub-physiological temperatures.

On the effect of transient expression of mutated eIF2alpha and eIF4E eukaryotic translation initiation factors on reporter gene expression in mammalian cells upon cold-shock.

There are a growing number of reports on the beneficial effects of subphysiological temperature in vitro culturing (27-35 degrees C) of mammalian cells on recombinant protein yield. However, this effect is not conserved across cell lines and target products, and our understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) responsible for increased recombinant protein yield upon reduced temperature culturing of mammalian cells is poor. What is known is that mammalian cells respond to cold-shock by attenuating global cap-dependent translation. Here, we have investigated the hypothesis that the cap-dependent attenuation of mRNA translation upon cold-stress of in vitro-cultured mammalian cells can be prevented, or at least alleviated, by overexpressing mutant translation initiation factors in Chinese hamster ovary and HeLa cells. We have shown that the transient coexpression of either an eIF2alphaSer51 Ala51 mutant or an eIF4ESer209 Glu209 mutant with firefly luciferase affects luciferase expression levels in a cell line and temperature dependent manner. Further, regardless of the coexpression of initiation factors, transient reporter gene expression was enhanced at subphysiological temperatures (<37 degrees C), suggesting that reduced temperature cultivation can be used to improve the yield of recombinant protein during transient expression. The implications of these results upon cell engineering strategies involving manipulation of the translational apparatus for the enhancement of recombinant protein synthesis upon cold-shock are discussed.

Noncovalently linked nuclear localization peptides for enhanced calcium phosphate transfection.

The generation of cell lines stably expressing recombinant material is a lengthy process and there has thus been much interest in the use of transient expression systems to rapidly produce recombinant material. To achieve this, the DNA of interest must be delivered into the nucleus of the target cell. The mechanisms by which this process occurs are poorly understood and the efficiency of various methods differs widely. Recently, nuclear localization signals (NLSs) have been investigated to target entry of DNA into the nucleus of mammalian cells. We have used NLSs from the SV40 and Tat antigens mixed with our model luciferase reporter gene plasmid for the transfection of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using calcium phosphate and FuGENE 6 transfection technology. The noncovalent complexation of NLSs with plasmid DNA before calcium phosphate-mediated transfection resulted in enhanced reporter gene expression with increasing ratios of NLS to plasmid until reaching a maximum. At higher ratios than maximum expression, the expression levels decreased. On the other hand, when using FuGENE 6 reagent NLSs did not enhance reporter gene expression. Cell cycle arrest in G(2)/M phase obliterated the effect of the NLS on reporter gene expression when using the calcium phosphate transfection method.

eIF2alpha phosphorylation, stress perception, and the shutdown of global protein synthesis in cultured CHO cells.

The perception of environmental stress in animal cells engineered to produce heterologous protein leads to the induction of stress signaling pathways and ultimately apoptosis and cell death. Protein synthesis is regulated in response to various environmental stresses by phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2). In this study we have utilized a model system of Chinese hamster ovary cells engineered to secrete recombinant TIMP-1 protein to investigate the relationship between the cellular rate of protein synthesis, eIF2alpha phosphorylation, cellular stress perception, and the rate of cell specific recombinant protein synthesis. The rate of total protein synthesis was maximal after 48 hours of culture, remaining relatively high until 96 hours of culture, after which a decline was observed. Towards the end of culture a marked increase in labeled secreted protein was observed. Total eIF2alpha expression levels were high during the exponential growth phase and decreased slightly towards the end of culture. On the other hand, the relative expression of phosphorylated eIF2alpha showed a bi-phasic response with a small increase in phosphorylated eIF2alpha observed at 48 hours of culture, and a significant increase at 120 hours post-inoculation. The large increase in phosphorylated eIF2alpha coincided with the observed increase in labeled secreted protein and the decline in total cellular protein synthesis. A marked increase in ubiquitination was also observed at 120 hours post-inoculation that coincided with reduced rates of cellular protein synthesis and mRNA translation attenuation. We suggest that eIF2alpha phosphorylation is an indicator of cellular stress perception, which could be exploited in recombinant protein manufacturing to commence feeding and engineering strategies.

Engineering mRNA translation initiation to enhance transient gene expression in chinese hamster ovary cells.

To increase transient expression of recombinant proteins in Chinese hamster ovary cells, we have engineered their protein synthetic capacity by directed manipulation of mRNA translation initiation. To control this process we constructed a nonphosphorylatable Ser(51)Ala site-directed mutant of eIF2alpha, a subunit of the trimeric eIF2 complex that is implicated in regulation of the global rate of mRNA translation initiation in eukaryotic cells. Phosphorylation of eIF2alpha by protein kinases inhibits eIF2 activity and is known to increase as cells perceive a range of stress conditions. Using single- and dual-gene plasmids introduced into CHO cells by electroporation, we found that transient expression of the eIF2alpha Ser(51)Ala mutant with firefly luciferase resulted in a 3-fold increase in reporter activity, relative to cells transfected with reporter only. This effect was maintained in transfected cells for at least 48 h after transfection. Expression of the wild-type eIF2alpha protein had no such effect. Elevated luciferase activity was associated with a reduction in the level of eIF2alpha phosphorylation in cells transfected with the mutant eIF2alpha construct. Transfection of CHO cells with the luciferase-only construct resulted in a marked decrease in the global rate of protein synthesis in the whole cell population 6 h post-transfection. However, expression of the mutant Ser(51)Ala or wild-type eIF2alpha proteins restored the rate of protein synthesis in transfected cells to a level equivalent to or exceeding that of control cells. Associated with this, entry of plasmid DNA into cells during electroporation was visualized by confocal microscopy using a rhodamine-labeled plasmid construct expressing green fluorescent protein. Six hours after transfection, plasmid DNA was present in all cells, albeit to a variable extent. These data suggest that entry of naked DNA into the cell itself functions to inhibit protein synthesis by signaling mechanisms affecting control of mRNA translation by eIF2. This work therefore forms the basis of a rational strategy to generically up-regulate transient expression of recombinant proteins by simultaneous host cell engineering.