Alain Garnier

Scale-up of the adenovirus expression system for the production of recombinant protein in human 293S cells

Human 293S cells, a cell line adapted to suspension culture, were grown to 5×106 cells/mL in batch with calcium-free DMEM. These cells, infected with new constructions of adenovirus vectors, yielded as much as 10 to 20% recombinant protein with respect to the total cellular protein content. Until recently, high specific productivity of recombinant protein was limited to low cell density infected cultures of no more than 5×105 cells/mL. In this paper, we show with a model protein, Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1C how high product yield can be maintained at high cell densities of 2×106 cells/mL by a medium replacement strategy. This allows the production of as much as 90 mg/L of active recombinant protein per culture volume. Analysis of key limiting/inhibiting medium components showed that glucose addition along with pH control can yield the same productivity as a medium replacement strategy at high cell density in calcium-free DMEM. Finally, the above results were reproduced in 3L bioreactor suspension culture thereby establishing the scalability of this expression system. The process we developed is used routinely with the same success for the production of various recombinant proteins and viruses.

Identification of Host Proteins Associated with Retroviral Vector Particles by Proteomic Analysis of Highly Purified Vector Preparations

ABSTRACT The Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) belongs to the Retroviridae family of enveloped viruses, which is known to acquire minute amounts of host cellular proteins both on the surface and inside the virion. Despite the extensive use of retroviral vectors in experimental and clinical applications, the repertoire of host proteins incorporated into MMLV vector particles remains unexplored. We report here the identification of host proteins from highly purified retroviral vector preparations obtained by rate-zonal ultracentrifugation. Viral proteins were fractionated by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in-gel tryptic digested, and subjected to liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Immunogold electron microscopy studies confirmed the presence of several host membrane proteins exposed at the vector surface. These studies led to the identification of 27 host proteins on MMLV vector particles derived from 293 HEK cells, including 5 proteins previously described as part of wild-type MMLV. Nineteen host proteins identified corresponded to intracellular proteins. A total of eight host membrane proteins were identified, including cell adhesion proteins integrin β1 (fibronectin receptor subunit beta) and HMFG-E8, tetraspanins CD81 and CD9, and late endosomal markers CD63 and Lamp-2. Identification of membrane proteins on the retroviral surface is particularly attractive, since they can serve as anchoring sites for the insertion of tags for targeting or purification purposes. The implications of our findings for retrovirus-mediated gene therapy are discussed.

Dissolved carbon dioxide accumulation in a large scale and high density production of TGFβ receptor with baculovirus infected Sf-9 cells.

Production of a TGFβ receptor with high density baculovirus infected Sf-9 cells (7×106cells ml-1) served as a test run for a retrofitted 150 L microbial fermentor. The entire 110 L batch run was performed in serum free medium, with an addition of a concentrated amino acid and yeastolate mixture at the time of infection. This addition strategy has been proven effective at a small scale by enabling cultures to maintain maximum product yield. In the bioreactor however, while cellular growth was comparable to that of the smaller scale control, TGFβ receptor production was three fold below the control. To minimize the mechanical stress, low flow rate of pure oxygen was used to control the dissolved oxygen at 40%. As a consequence, it seems that this aeration strategy involved an accumulation of dissolved carbon dioxide that in turn inhibited the protein production. A model has been developed that estimated the CO2 partial pressure in the culture to be in the vicinity of 0.15 atm. The effect of dissolved CO2 at this concentration has been assessed at smaller scale for TGFβ receptor and β-gal expression, in controlled atmosphere incubators.

High-titer adenovirus vector production in 293S cell perfusion culture.

Human 293S cells culture for recombinant adenovirus production is traditionally carried out in batch at a maximum of 6 × 105 cells/mL. A previous report demonstrated that fed‐batch, applied to the adenovirus/293S cells system, improves the volumetric production of viral proteins by increasing the cell density at which cells can be infected, up to 2 × 106 cells/mL, without reducing the per‐cell yield of product. To increase this cell density limit, the adenovirus production was performed in a perfusion system where the cells were separated by means of a tangential flow filtration device. 293S cell growth to 14 × 106 cells/mL was achieved in 10 days, at a medium renewal rate of 1 volume of medium per reactor volume and day (VVD). For adenovirus production, three 293S cell cultures were perfused at 1 VVD in parallel and infected at an average density of 8 × 106 cells/mL. One of the cultures was set at 37 °C and the two others at 35 °C. After a rapid initial cell loss, the average cell density stabilized at 5.75 × 106 cells/mL, 12 h postinfection, which was 8 times higher than the cell density in the batch control. This allowed the production of 3.2 × 109 infectious viral particles/mL (IVP/mL) at 37 °C and 7.8 × 109 IVP/mL at 35 °C, this last result being 5.5 times higher than the control. To our knowledge, this nonconcentrated titer is the highest value that has ever been published for adenovirus vector production. These observations lead to the conclusion that perfusion is an efficient tool to maintain, at high cell density, a specific production rate level sufficient to increase significantly the adenovirus volumetric production. Furthermore, it shows that perfusion at 35 °C can improve viral titer by 2.4‐fold compared to 37 °C, in accordance with a previous study on adenovirus batch production.

High-level recombinant protein production in CHO cells using lentiviral vectors and the cumate gene-switch

Fast and efficient production of recombinant proteins for structural and functional studies is a crucial issue for research and for industry. To this end, we have developed an efficient system to generate in less than 2 months, starting from the cDNA, pools of CHO cells stably expressing high‐level of recombinant proteins. It is based on lentiviral vectors (LVs) for stable transduction coupled with the cumate gene‐switch for inducible and efficient gene expression. Transcription is initiated upon binding of the cumate transactivator (cTA) or the reverse cTA (rcTA) to the CR5 promoter. Binding of cTA or rcTA is prevented or induced by addition of cumate respectively. We first validated the CHO/LV production system with an LV carrying the secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), whose expression was linked to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) through an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). CHO cells stably expressing the cTA (CHO‐cTA) were transduced at various multiplicity of infection (MOI). Pools of cells were incubated at 37 and 30°C during 10 days. Optimal SEAP production (65 µg/mL) was achieved at 30°C with a MOI of 200. The pool stability was demonstrated for 48 days of culture by GFP expression analysis. The system was also evaluated using LV expressing three typical therapeutic proteins (a protein made up of the extracellular domain of CD200 fused to IgG Fc region [CD200Fc], a chimeric antibody [chB43], and erythropoietin [EPO]). CHO cells expressing rcTA (CHO‐Cum2) were transduced with these LVs at a MOI of 200 and production was tested at 30°C. After 13 days of culture, 235, 160, and 206 µg/mL of CD200Fc, chB43, and EPO were produced, respectively. The ON/OFF ratio of these pools was equal to 6 for CD200Fc, 16 for chB43, and 74 for EPO. In conclusion, this system should be very useful to produce mg quantities of recombinant proteins in a timely manner in serum free suspension culture of CHO cells for preclinical studies. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;106: 203–215.

New developments in lentiviral vector design, production and purification

Introduction: Lentiviruses are a very potent class of viral vectors for which there is presently a rapidly growing interest for a number of gene therapy. However, their construction, production and purification need to be performed according to state-of-the-art techniques in order to obtain sufficient quantities of high purity material of any usefulness and safety. Areas covered: The recent advances in the field of recombinant lentivirus vector design, production and purification will be reviewed with an eye toward its utilization for gene therapy. Such a review should be helpful for the potential user of this technology. Expert opinion: The principal hurdles toward the use of recombinant lentivirus as a gene therapy vector are the low titer at which it is produced as well as the difficulty to purify it at an acceptable level without degrading it. The recent advances in the bioproduction of this vector suggest these issues are about to be resolved, making the retrovirus gene therapy a mature technology.

PH, pCO2, and temperature effect on R-adenovirus production.

The effects of pH, carbon dioxide vapor pressure, pCO2, and temperature on E1 and E3 deleted recombinant adenovirus vector (rAV) production with HEK293S cells have been studied in the ranges of pH = 6.7–7.7, pCO2 = 0.05–0.20 atm, and T = 32–39 °C, respectively. The experiments were performed in four 500‐mL bioreactors in parallel, which make possible the reduction of inter‐run variability. Cell concentration and viability, relative oxygen uptake rate (OUR), fluorescence, and viral titer were measured. It was found that, although pH and pCO2 did not affect significantly cell viability in the range studied, they had an important effect on virus titer. pCO2 allowed the maximum production of rAV at 0.05 atm, and pH showed a very sharp optimum at 7.2. Temperature had an effect on both cell metabolism and virus titer. Low temperature prolonged cell viability and high OUR. Most of all, a 3‐fold increase in virus yield was found at 35 °C compared to that at 37 °C, while 32 °C was not as beneficial (1.5‐fold increase). This finding could have an important impact on large‐scale production. This phenomenon was modeled using a simple 3‐parameter synthesis‐decay model. This model shows how the optimum gain in virus production at 35 °C is due to a balance between the production and decay processes at that temperature.

Overview of Current Scalable Methods for Purification of Viral Vectors

As a result of the growing interest in the use of viruses for gene therapy and vaccines, many virus-based products are being developed. The manufacturing of viruses poses new challenges for process developers and regulating authorities that need to be addressed to ensure quality, efficacy, and safety of the final product. The design of suitable purification strategies will depend on a multitude of variables including the vector production system and the nature of the virus. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the most commonly used purification methods for viral gene therapy vectors. Current chromatography options available for large-scale purification of γ-retrovirus, lentivirus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, herpes simplex virus, baculovirus, and poxvirus vectors are presented.

Individual and synergistic cytokine effects controlling the expansion of cord blood CD34+ cells and megakaryocyte progenitors in culture

BACKGROUND AIMS Expansion of hematopoietic progenitors ex vivo is currently investigated as a means of reducing cytopenia following stem cell transplantation. The principal objective of this study was to develop a new cytokine cocktail that would maximize the expansion of megakaryocyte (Mk) progenitors that could be used to reduce periods of thrombocytopenia. METHODS We measured the individual and synergistic effects of six cytokines [stem cell factor (SCF), FLT-3 ligand (FL), interleukin (IL)-3, IL-6, IL-9 and IL-11] commonly used to expand cord blood (CB) CD34(+) cells on the expansion of CB Mk progenitors and major myeloid populations by factorial design. RESULTS These results revealed an elaborate array of cytokine individual effects complemented by a large number of synergistic and antagonistic interaction effects. Notably, strong interactions with SCF were observed with most cytokines and its concentration level was the most influential factor for the expansion and differentiation kinetics of CB CD34(+) cells. A response surface methodology was then applied to optimize the concentrations of the selected cytokines. The newly developed cocktail composed of SCF, thrombopoietin (TPO) and FL increased the expansion of Mk progenitors and maintained efficient expansion of clonogenic progenitors and CD34(+) cells. CB cells expanded with the new cocktail were shown to provide good short- and long-term human platelet recovery and lymphomyeloid reconstitution in NOD/SCID mice. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, these results define a complex cytokine network that regulates the growth and differentiation of immature and committed hematopoietic cells in culture, and confirm that cytokine interactions have major influences on the fate of hematopoietic cells.

New protocol for lentiviral vector mass production.

Multiplasmid transient transfection is the most widely used technique for the generation of lentiviral vectors. However, traditional transient transfection protocols using 293 T adherent cells and calcium phosphate/DNA co-precipitation followed by ultracentrifugation are tedious, time-consuming, and difficult to scale up. This chapter describes a streamlined protocol for the fast mass production of lentiviral vectors and their purification by affinity chromatography. Lentiviral particles are generated by transient transfection of suspension growing HEK 293 cells in serum-free medium using polyethylenimine (PEI) as transfection reagent. Lentiviral vector production is carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks agitated on orbital shakers requiring minimum supplementary laboratory equipment. Alternatively, the method can be easily scaled up to generate larger volumes of vector stocks in bioreactors. Heparin affinity chromatography allows for selective concentration and purification of lentiviral particles in a singlestep directly from vector supernatants. The method is suitable for the production and purification of different vector pseudotypes.