Small-Scale Cultivation and Transfection of ExpiCHO and HEK293E Cells in Single-Use Orbitally Shaken Bioreactors.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells are the two most important mammalian hosts for the production of recombinant proteins. In this chapter, the suspension cultivation and transfection of these cells in small-scale, single-use orbitally shaken bioreactors, TubeSpin™ bioreactor 50 [orbitally shaken reactor 50 (OSR50)], and TubeSpin™ bioreactor 600 [orbitally shaken reactor 600 (OSR600)] are described. These are conical centrifuge tubes with nominal volumes of 50 mL and 600 mL, respectively, that have been redesigned with a ventilated cap for the cultivation of animal cells in suspension at working volumes up to 20 mL and 400 mL, respectively.

Analysis of volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k L a) in small- (250 mL) to large-scale (2500 L) orbitally shaken bioreactors.

In this study, the combination of dimensional analysis (DA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to predict the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k L a) values under different operating conditions for orbitally shaken bioreactors (OSRs) with different filling volumes. It was found that Reynolds number and the interaction between Froude number and geometric number have the largest impact on k L a with impact indexes of 7.41 and 7.50, respectively. Moreover, the volume number has the largest negative impact on k L a, with an impact index of - 5.34. Thus, an effective way to increase the oxygen supply is by increasing the shaking speed and shaking diameter or decreasing the vessel diameter. However, cell cultivation with a higher filling volume will have an increased risk of oxygen scarcity. Therefore, with the help of the k L a prediction model, a suitable operating condition can be determined effectively and easily.

Large-Scale Production of Recombinant Noggin and R-Spondin1 Proteins Required for the Maintenance of Stem Cells in Intestinal Organoid Cultures.

The presence of the proteins mouse R-Spondin1 (mRSpo1) and mouse Noggin (mNoggin) in a 3D-organoid culture allows for the maintenance of intestinal stem cells. Here, we describe a transient gene expression method for the production of these proteins from human embryo kidney 293 (HEK293) cells cultivated in suspension using orbitally shaken bioreactors. Plasmid DNA was delivered into cells using the cationic polymer polyethylenimine (PEI). The 7-day production cultures were performed in the presence of valproic acid (VPA), an enhancer of recombinant gene expression. Both proteins were secreted from the transfected cells. mRSpo1 was produced as a secreted Fc fusion protein (mRSpo1-Fc) and purified by protein A-based affinity chromatography. mNoggin was produced as a secreted histidine-tagged protein (mNoggin-His) and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). This transient transfection system supports a high production efficiency.

CHO and HEK293 Cultivation and Transfection in Single-Use Orbitally Shaken Bioreactors.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells are the two most popular mammalian hosts for the production of recombinant proteins. In this chapter the suspension cultivation and transfection of these cells in small-scale disposable bioreactors is described. The TubeSpin bioreactor 50 and TubeSpin bioreactor 600 are designed for the cultivation of suspension cells by orbital shaking and have maximum working volumes of about 15 mL and 400 mL, respectively.

Improved process conditions for increasing expression of MHC class II protein from a stable Drosophila S2 cell line.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of operational process conditions on expression of MHC class II protein from a stable Drosophila S2 cell line. RESULTS: When the Drosophila S2 cells were grown in vented orbitally shaken TubeSpin bioreactor 600 containers, cell growth was improved three-fold and the yield of recombinant major histocompatibility (MHC) class II protein (HLA-DR12xHis) increased four-fold over the levels observed for the same cells cultivated in roller bottles (RB) without vented caps. Culturing in RB with vented caps while increasing the rotation speed from 6 rpm to 18 rpm also improved cell growth five-fold and protein productivity three-fold which is comparable to the levels observed in the orbitally shaken containers. Protein activity was found to be almost identical between the two vessel systems tested. CONCLUSIONS: Optimized cell culture conditions and a more efficient vessel type can enhance gas transfer and mixing and lead to substantial improvement of recombinant product yields from S2 cells.

Large-Scale Transient Transfection of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells in Suspension.

We describe a one-liter transfection of suspension-adapted Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-DG44) cells using polyethyleneimine (PEI) for DNA delivery. The method involves transfection at a high cell density (5 × 106 cells/mL) by direct addition of plasmid DNA (pDNA) and PEI to the culture and subsequent incubation at 31 °C with agitation by orbital shaking. We also describe an alternative method in which 90% of the pDNA is replaced by nonspecific (filler) DNA, and the production phase is performed at 31 °C in the presence of 0.25% N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA).

Studies on fluid dynamics of the flow field and gas transfer in orbitally shaken tubes.

Orbitally shaken cylindrical bioreactors [OrbShake bioreactors (OSRs)] without an impeller or sparger are increasingly being used for the suspension cultivation of mammalian cells. Among small volume OSRs, 50-mL tubes with a ventilated cap (OSR50), originally derived from standard laboratory centrifuge tubes with a conical bottom, have found many applications including high-throughput screening for the optimization of cell cultivation conditions. To better understand the fluid dynamics and gas transfer rates at the liquid surface in OSR50, we established a three-dimensional simulation model of the unsteady liquid forms (waves) in this vessel. The studies verified that the operating conditions have a large effect on the interfacial surface. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kL a) was determined experimentally and from simulations under various working conditions. We also determined the liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient (kL ) and the specific interfacial area (a) under different conditions to demonstrate that the value of a affected the gas transfer rate more than did the value of kL . High oxygen transfer rates, sufficient for supporting the high-density culture of mammalian cells, were found. Finally, the average axial velocity of the liquid was identified to be an important parameter for maintaining cells in suspension. Overall these studies provide valuable insights into the preferable operating conditions for the OSR50, such as those needed for cell cultures requiring high oxygen levels. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:192-200, 2017.

A comparison of orbitally-shaken and stirred-tank bioreactors: pH modulation and bioreactor type affect CHO cell growth and protein glycosylation.

Orbitally shaken bioreactors (OSRs) support the suspension cultivation of animal cells at volumetric scales up to 200 L and are a potential alternative to stirred-tank bioreactors (STRs) due to their rapid and homogeneous mixing and high oxygen transfer rate. In this study, a Chinese hamster ovary cell line producing a recombinant antibody was cultivated in a 5 L OSR and a 3 L STR, both operated with or without pH control. Effects of bioreactor type and pH control on cell growth and metabolism and on recombinant protein production and glycosylation were determined. In pH-controlled bioreactors, the glucose consumption and lactate production rates were higher relative to cultures grown in bioreactors without pH control. The cell density and viability were higher in the OSRs than in the STRs, either with or without pH control. Volumetric recombinant antibody yields were not affected by the process conditions, and a glycan analysis of the antibody by mass spectrometry did not reveal major process-dependent differences in the galactosylation index. The results demonstrated that OSRs are suitable for recombinant protein production from suspension-adapted animal cells. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1174-1180, 2016.

Recombinant protein production from stable mammalian cell lines and pools.

We highlight recent developments for the production of recombinant proteins from suspension-adapted mammalian cell lines. We discuss the generation of stable cell lines using transposons and lentivirus vectors (non-targeted transgene integration) and site-specific recombinases (targeted transgene integration). Each of these methods results in the generation of cell lines with protein yields that are generally superior to those achievable through classical plasmid transfection that depends on the integration of the transfected DNA by non-homologous DNA end-joining. This is the main reason why these techniques can also be used for the generation of stable cell pools, heterogenous populations of recombinant cells generated by gene delivery and genetic selection without resorting to single cell cloning. This allows the time line from gene transfer to protein production to be reduced.

Multigene expression in stable CHO cell pools generated with the piggyBac transposon system.

Heterogenous populations of recombinant cells (cell pools) stably expressing 1-4 transgenes were generated from Chinese hamster overy (CHO) cells with the piggyBac (PB) transposon system. The cell pools produced different combinations of three model proteins-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), and a monoclonal IgG1 antibody. Each transgene was present on a separate PB donor plasmid with either the same or a different selection gene. In both cases, we obtained PB-derived cell pools with higher recombinant protein yields than from cell pools generated by conventional gene delivery. In PB-derived cell pools generated using a single selection agent, both protein production and the number of integrated copies of each transgene declined as the number of transfected transgenes increased. However, the total number of integrated transgenes was similar regardless of the number of different transgenes transfected. For PB-derived cell pools generated by selection of each transgene with a different selection agent, the total number of integrated transgenes increased with the number of transfected transgenes. The results suggest that the generation of cell pools producing multiple recombinant proteins is feasible and that the method is more efficient when each individual transgene is selected with a different marker. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1308-1317, 2016.

Disposable orbitally shaken TubeSpin bioreactor 600 for Sf9 cell cultivation in suspension.

Disposable orbitally shaken TubeSpin bioreactor 600 tubes (TS600s) were recently developed for the bench-scale cultivation of animal cells in suspension. Here we compared batch cultures of Sf9 insect cells in TS600s, spinner flasks, and shake flasks. Superior cell growth was observed in TS600s and shake flasks as compared with spinner flasks, and more favorable oxygen-enriched cell culture conditions were observed in TS600s as compared with either spinner or shake flasks. The results demonstrated the suitability of TS600s as a disposable vessel for the cultivation of Sf9 cells in suspension.

Comparison of three transposons for the generation of highly productive recombinant CHO cell pools and cell lines.

Several naturally occurring vertebrate transposable elements have been genetically modified to enable the transposition of recombinant genes in mammalian cells. We compared three transposons-piggyBac, Tol2, and Sleeping Beauty-for their ability to generate cell pools (polyclonal cultures of recombinant cells) and clonal cell lines for the large-scale production of recombinant proteins using Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-DG44) as the host. Transfection with each of the dual-vector transposon systems resulted in cell pools with volumetric yields of tumor necrosis factor receptor-Fc fusion protein (TNFR:Fc) that were about ninefold higher than those from cell pools generated by conventional plasmid transfection. On average, the cell pools had 10-12 integrated copies of the transgene per cell. In the absence of selection, the volumetric productivity of the cell pools decreased by 50% over a 2-month cultivation period and then remained constant. The average volumetric TNFR:Fc productivity of clonal cell lines recovered from cell pools was about 25 times higher than that of cell lines generated by conventional transfection. In 14-day fed-batch cultures, TNFR:Fc levels up to 900 mg/L were obtained from polyclonal cell pools and up to 1.5 g/L from clonal cell lines using any of the three transposons. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1234-1243. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A simple plasmid-based transient gene expression method using High Five cells.

The High Five (H5) cell line, derived from the lepidopteran Trichoplusia ni, is one of the major insect cell hosts for the production of recombinant proteins using the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS). Here, we describe a simple polyethylenimine (PEI)-based transient gene expression (TGE) process for the rapid production of recombinant proteins from suspension-adapted H5 cells. The method was optimized using two model proteins, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and human tumor necrosis factor receptor-Fc fusion protein (TNFR-Fc). After screening several promoter and enhancer combinations for high levels of TNFR:Fc production, an expression vector containing the Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus immediate early 1 (ie1) promoter and homologous region 5 (hr5) enhancer was selected. Cells were transfected at a density of 2×10(6) cells/mL by direct addition of DNA and PEI. Under optimized conditions, a 90% transfection efficiency (percentage of EGFP-positive cells) was obtained. In addition, we observed volumetric TNFR-Fc yields over 150µg/mL within 4 days of transfection. The method was found to be reproducible and scalable to 300mL. This plasmid-based transient transfection process is a simple and efficient alternative to the BEVS for recombinant protein production in H5 cells.

Enhanced plasmid DNA utilization in transiently transfected CHO-DG44 cells in the presence of polar solvents.

Although the protein yields from transient gene expression (TGE) with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have recently improved, the amount of plasmid DNA (pDNA) needed for transfection remains relatively high. We describe a strategy to reduce the pDNA amount by transfecting CHO-DG44 cells with 0.06 µg pDNA/10(6) cells (10% of the optimal amount) in the presence of nonspecific (filler) DNA and various polar solvents including dimethylsufoxide, dimethyl formamide, acetonitrile, dimethyl acetamide (DMA), and hexamethyl phosphoramide (HMP). All of the polar solvents with the exception of HMP increased the production of a recombinant antibody in comparison to the untreated control transfection. In the presence of 0.25% DMA, the antibody yield in a 7-day batch culture was 500 mg/L. This was fourfold higher than the yield from the untreated control transfection. Mechanistic studies revealed that the polar solvents did not affect polyethylenimine-mediated pDNA delivery into cells or nuclei. The steady-state transgene mRNA level was elevated in the presence of each of the polar solvents tested, while the transgene mRNA half-life remained the same. These results indicated that the polar solvents enhanced transgene transcription. When screening a panel of recombinant antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins for production in the presence of the polar solvents, the highest increase in yield was observed following DMA addition for 11 of the 12 proteins. These results are expected to enhance the applicability of high-yielding TGE processes with CHO-DG44 cells by decreasing the amount of pDNA required for transfection.

Production of active glycosylation-deficient γ-secretase complex for crystallization studies.

Alzheimer's disease (AD)-associated γ-secretase is a ubiquitously expressed multi-subunit protease complex embedded in the lipid bilayer of cellular compartments including endosomes and the plasma membrane. Although γ-secretase is of crucial interest for AD drug discovery, its atomic structure remains unresolved. γ-Secretase assembly and maturation is a multistep process, which includes extensive glycosylation on nicastrin (NCT), the only γ-secretase subunit having a large extracellular domain. These posttranslational modifications lead to protein heterogeneity that likely prevents the three-dimensional (3D) crystallization of the protease complex. To overcome this issue, we have engineered a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line deficient in complex sugar modifications (CHO lec1) to overexpress the four subunits of γ-secretase as a functional complex. We purified glycosylation-deficient γ-secretase from this recombinant cell line (CL1-9) and fully glycosylated γ-secretase from a recombinant CHO DG44-derived cell line (SS20). We characterized both complexes biochemically and pharmacologically in vitro. Interestingly, we found that the complex oligosaccharides, which largely decorate the extracellular domain of fully glycosylated NCT, are not involved in the proper assembly and maturation of the complex, and are dispensable for the specific generation, in physiological ratios, of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage products. In conclusion, we propose a novel bioengineering approach for the production of functional glycosylation-deficient γ-secretase, which may be suitable for crystallization studies. We expect that these findings will contribute both to solving the high-resolution 3D structure of γ-secretase and to structure-based drug discovery for AD.

Rapid recombinant protein production from piggyBac transposon-mediated stable CHO cell pools.

Heterogeneous populations of stably transfected cells (cell pools) can serve for the rapid production of moderate amounts of recombinant proteins. Here, we propose the use of the piggyBac (PB) transposon system to improve the productivity and long-term stability of cell pools derived from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. PB is a naturally occurring genetic element that has been engineered to facilitate the integration of a transgene into the genome of the host cell. In this report PB-derived cell pools were generated after 10 days of selection with puromycin. The resulting cell pools had volumetric productivities that were 3-4 times higher than those achieved with cell pools generated by conventional plasmid transfection even though the number of integrated transgene copies per cell was similar in the two populations. In 14-day batch cultures, protein levels up to 600 and 800 mg/L were obtained for an Fc-fusion protein and a monoclonal antibody, respectively, at volumetric scales up to 1L. In general, the volumetric protein yield from cell pools remained constant for up to 3 months in the absence of selection. In conclusion, transfection of CHO cells with the PB transposon system is a simple, efficient, and reproducible approach to the generation of cell pools for the rapid production of recombinant proteins.

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional limitations of high-yielding, PEI-mediated transient transfection with CHO and HEK-293E cells.

Transient gene expression (TGE) in human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells is a well-established technology for the rapid generation of recombinant proteins. Although the maximum TGE yields have reached 1 g/L or more, the amount of plasmid DNA (pDNA) required for transfection remains high. Although greater than 10(3) copies of pDNA are present per transfected cell, protein yields are still lower than those achieved in recombinant cell lines with only one or a few copies of the transgene. This indicates a clear limitation to TGE in terms of the maximum level of recombinant protein production. In this study, we investigated the limitations to high-yielding TGE processes with CHO and HEK-293E cells using a monoclonal antibody as a model protein. For either cell host, both the intracellular and intranuclear pDNA levels increased linearly with the amount of pDNA added to the culture. In contrast, transgene mRNA accumulation reached a plateau as the intranuclear pDNA amount increased, suggesting a limitation in pDNA transcription. A post-transcriptional limitation to TGE yields was revealed by calculating the amount of antibody produced per transgene mRNA (mRNA utilization). For both hosts the transgene mRNA utilization decreased dramatically when transfected pDNA amounts increased beyond the level giving the maximum protein yield. The post-transcriptional limitation did not appear to be due to bottlenecks in antibody assembly or secretion, suggesting that transgene mRNA translation may be limiting. The results show that TGE yields are not limited by pDNA delivery into the nuclei, but in pDNA and transgene mRNA utilization.

Virus-free transient protein production in Sf9 cells.

A method for virus-free transient gene expression from suspension-adapted Sf9 insect cells was developed with the gene of interest being expressed from a plasmid carrying the homologous region 5 enhancer (hr5) and the immediate early 1 (ie1) promoter from Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). Under the optimal conditions described in the study, cells were transfected at a density of 30×106 cells/mL with 0.9 µg DNA and 1.35 µg of linear 25 kD polyethylenimine (PEI) per million cells. Following transfection, the culture was diluted to 4×106 cells/mL for the protein production phase. The volumetric yield of tumor necrosis factor receptor (ectodomain) fused to an Fc domain (TNFR-Fc) was about 100 µg/mL for cultures at volumes up to 300 mL. As expected, the molecular weight of the dimeric TNFR-Fc produced from Sf9 cells was about 6 kDa less than that produced from a recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line due to differences in glycosylation between the two hosts. Transient transfection provides an alternative to the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) for the rapid production of recombinant proteins from Sf9 cells.

Polyethyleneimine-based transient gene expression processes for suspension-adapted HEK-293E and CHO-DG44 cells.

Transient gene expression (TGE) from mammalian cells is an increasingly important tool for the rapid production of recombinant proteins for research applications in biochemistry, structural biology, and biomedicine. Here we review methods for the transfection of human embryo kidney (HEK-293) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in suspension culture using the cationic polymer polyethylenimine (PEI) for gene delivery.

DNA delivery with hyperbranched polylysine: a comparative study with linear and dendritic polylysine.

PEI and polylysine are among the most investigated synthetic polymeric carriers for DNA delivery. Apart from their practical use, these 2 classes of polymers are also of interest from a fundamental point of view as they both can be prepared in different architectures (linear and branched/dendritic) and in a wide range of molecular weights, which is attractive to establish basic structure-activity relationships. This manuscript reports the results of an extensive study on the influence of molecular weight and architecture of a library of polylysine variants that includes linear, dendritic and hyperbranched polylysine. Hyperbranched polylysine is a new polylysine-based carrier that is structurally related to dendritic polylysine but possesses a randomly branched structure. Hyperbranched polylysine is attractive as it can be prepared in a one-step process on a large scale. The performance of these 3 classes of polylysine analogs was evaluated by assessing eGFP and IgG production in transient gene expression experiments with CHO DG44 cells, which revealed that protein production generally increased with increasing molecular weight and that at comparable molecular weight, the hyperbranched analogs were superior as compared to the dendritic and linear polylysines. To understand the differences between the gene delivery properties of the hyperbranched polylysine analogs on the one hand and the dendritic and linear polylysines on the other hand, the uptake and trafficking of the corresponding polyplexes were investigated. These experiments allowed us to identify (i) polyplex-external cell membrane binding, (ii) free, unbound polylysine coexisting with polyplexes as well as (iii) polymer buffer capacity as three possible factors that may contribute to the superior transfection properties of the hyperbranched polylysines as compared to their linear and dendritic analogs. Altogether, the results of this study indicate that hyperbranched polylysine is an interesting, alternative synthetic gene carrier. Hyperbranched polylysine can be produced at low costs and in large quantities, is partially biodegradable, which may help to prevent cumulative cytotoxicity, and possesses transfection properties that can approach those of PEI.