FUSION of myeloma cells which grow in tissue culture with spleen cells from an immunised mouse provides a general method for obtaining cell lines (hybridomas) which make antibody of the desired specificity. Hybrids derived from these myelomas make the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chains of the myeloma parent as well as the antigen-specific heavy and light chains of the spleen cell parent. In conditions in which the two heavy and two light chains associate randomly, a hybridoma would make 10 distinct Ig molecules, and the specific antibody would comprise only 1/16 of the total Ig. To obtain hybridomas making only the specific antibodies requires a tumour cell fusion partner that itself makes no Ig but which can nevertheless be fused with spleen cells to obtain hybrids secreting only the specific antibody. We report here the identification of such a cell line, Sp2/0-Ag14.

One of the fastest growing fields in the pharmaceutical industry is the market for therapeutic glycoproteins. Today, these molecules play a major role in the treatment of various diseases, and include several protein classes, i.e., clotting factors, hormones, cytokines, antisera, enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, Ig-Fc-Fusion proteins, and monoclonal antibodies. Optimal glycosylation is critical for therapeutic glycoproteins, as glycans can influence their yield, immunogenicity and efficacy, which impact the costs and success of such treatments. While several mammalian cell expression systems currently used can produce therapeutic glycoproteins that are mostly decorated with human-like glycans, they can differ from human glycans by presenting two structures at the terminal and therefore most exposed position. First, natural human N-glycans are lacking the terminal Gal? 1 3Gal (alpha-Gal) modification;

There has been a recent boom of monoclonal antibodies on the market, and a significant portion of them were produced by NS0 cell lines. As regulations become more stringent in ensuring production...

Abstract Phosphorus depletion was identified in high-cell-concentration fed-batch NS0 myeloma cell cultures producing a humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb). In these cultures, the maximum viable and total cell concentration was generally ca. 5 × 109 and 7 × 109 cells/L, respectively, without phosphate feeding. Depletion of essential amino acids, such as lysine, was initially thought to cause the onset of cell death. However, further improvement of cell growth was not achieved by feeding a stoichiometrically balanced amino acid solution, which eliminated depletion of amino acids. Even though a higher cell viability was maintained for a longer period, no increase in total cell concentration was observed. Afterwards, phosphorus was found to be depleted in these cultures. By also feeding a phosphate solution to eliminate phosphorus depletion, the cell growth phase was prolonged significantly, resulting in a total cell concentration of ca. 17 × 109 cells/L, which is much greater than ca. 7 × 109 cells/L without phosphate feeding. The maximum viable cell concentration reached about 10 × 109 cells/L, twice as high as that without phosphate feeding. Apoptosis was also delayed and suppressed with phosphate feeding. A nonapoptotic viable cell population of 6.5 × 109 cells/L, as compared with 3 × 109 cells/L without phosphate feeding, was obtained and successfully maintained for about 70 h. These results are consistent with the knowledge that phosphorus is an essential part of many cell components, including phospholipids, DNA, and RNA. As a result of phosphate feeding, a much higher integral of viable cell concentration over time was achieved, resulting in a correspondingly higher MAb titer of ca. 1.3 g/L. It was also noted that phosphate feeding delayed the cell metabolism shift from lactate production to lactate consumption typically observed in recombinant NS0 cultures. The results highlight the importance of phosphate feeding in high-cell-concentration NS0 cultures. 08 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 69: 566–576, 2000.

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This paper presents a T-flask based screening platform for evaluating and identifying plant hydrolysates for cell culture processes. The development of this platform was driven by an urgent need of replacing a soy hydrolysate that was no longer available for the fed-batch process of recombinant Sp2/0 cell culture expressing a humanized antibody. Series of small-scale experiments in T-flasks and 3-l bioreactors were designed to gain an insight on how this soy hydrolysate benefits the culture. A comprehensive, function-oriented screening platform then was developed, consisting of three T-flask tests, namely the protection test, the growth promotion test, and the growth inhibition test. The cell growth in these three T-flask tests enabled a good prediction of the cell growth in the fed-batch bioreactor process. Fourteen plant hydrolysate candidates were quickly evaluated by this platform for their ability to exert strong protection, high cell growth promotion, and low cell growth inhibition to the culture. One soy hydrolysate was successfully identified to support the comparable cell growth as the discontinued soy hydrolysate. Because of the advantage of using small-scale batch culture to guide bioreactor fed-batch culture, this proposed platform approach has the potential for other applications, such as the medium and feeding optimization, and the mechanism study of plant hydrolysates, in a high throughput format.

For efficient production of native interferon- (IFN-) in recombinant CHO cell culture, the IFN- molecular aggregation that occurs during culture needs to be minimized. To do so, we investigated the effect of hyperosmolality and hypothermia on IFN- production and molecular aggregation in rCHO cell culture. Both hyperosmolality (470 mOsm/kg) and hypothermia (3200°C) increased specific native INF- productivity qIFN-. Furthermore, they decreased the IFN- molecular aggregation, although severe IFN- molecular aggregation could not be avoided in the later phase of culture. To overcome growth suppression at hyperosmolality and hypothermia, cells were cultivated in a biphasic mode. Cells were first cultivated at 310 mOsm/kg and 3700°C for 2 days to rapidly obtain a reasonably high cell concentration. The temperature and osmolality were then shifted to 3200°C and 470 mOsm/kg, respectively, to achieve high q IFN- and reduced IFN- molecular aggregation. Due to the enhanced q IFN- and delayed molecular aggregation, the highest native IFN- concentration achieved on day 6 was 18.03 00± 0.61 mg/L, which was 5.30-fold higher than that in a control batch culture (310 mOsm/kg and 3700°C). Taken together, a combination of hyperosmolality and hypothermia in a biphasic culture is a useful strategy for improved native IFN- production from rCHO cells. 0008 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009

Steady state metabolic parameters for hybridoma cell line H22 were determined over a wide range of cell densities and specific growth rates in a filtration based homogeneous perfusion reactor. Operating the reactor at perfusion rates of 0.75, 2.0, and 2.9 day-1(each at four different specific growth rates), viable cell densities as high as 2 107 cells/mL were obtained. For the cell line under investigation, the specific monoclonal antibody production rate was found to be a strong function of the viable cell density, increasing with increasing cell density. In contrast, most of the substrate consumption and product formation rates were strong functions of the specific growth rate. Substrate metabolism became more efficient at high cell densities and low specific growth rates. The Specific rates of metabolite formation and the apparent yields of lactate from glucose and ammonia from glutamine decreased at low specific growth rates and high cell densities. While the specific oxygen consumption rate was independent of the specific growth rate and cell density, ATP production was more oxidative at lower specific growth rate and higher cell density. These observed shifts are strong indications of the production potential of high-density perfusion culture. ? 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Process intensification in biomanufacturing has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years. Manufacturing platform improvements leading to higher cell density and bioreactor productivity have been pursued. Here we evaluated a variety of intensified mammalian cell culture processes for producing monoclonal antibodies. Cell culture operational modes including fed‐batch (normal seeding density or high seeding density with N‐1 perfusion), perfusion, and concentrated fed‐batch (CFB) were assessed using the same media set with the same Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line. Limited media modification was done to quickly fit the media set to different operational modes. Perfusion and CFB processes were developed using an alternating tangential flow filtration device. Independent of the operational modes, comparable cell specific productivity (fed‐batch: 29.4 pg/cell/day; fed‐batch with N‐1 perfusion: 32.0 pg/cell/day; perfusion: 31.0 pg/cell/day; CFB: 20.1 – 45.1 pg/cell/day) was reached with similar media conditions. Continuous media exchange enabled much higher bioreactor productivity in the perfusion (up to 2.29 g/L/day) and CFB processes (up to 2.04 g/L/day), compared with that in the fed‐batch processes (ranging from 0.39 to 0.49 g/L/day), largely due to the higher cell density maintained. Furthermore, media cost per gram of antibody produced from perfusion was found to be highly comparable with that from fed‐batch; and the media cost for CFB was the highest due to the short batch duration. Our experimental data supports the argument that media cost for perfusion process could be even lower than that in a fed‐batch process, as long as sufficient bioreactor productivity is achieved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A high-throughput (HT) cell culture model has been established for the support of perfusion-based cell culture processes operating at high cell densities. To mimic perfusion, the developed platform takes advantage of shake tubes and operates them in a batch-refeed mode with daily medium exchange to supply the cultures with nutrients and remove toxic byproducts. By adjusting the shaking parameters, such as the speed and setting angle, we have adapted the shake tubes to a semi-continuous production of a recombinant enzyme in a perfusion-like mode. We have demonstrated that the developed model can be used to select clones and cell culture media ahead of process optimization studies in bioreactors and confirmed the applicability of shake tubes to a perfusion-like cell culture reaching 50E6 viable cells/mL. Furthermore, through regular cell mass removal and periodic medium exchange we have successfully maintained satellite cultures of bench-top perfusion bioreactors, achieving a sustainable cell culture performance at 30E6 viable cells/mL and viabilities >80% for over 58 days. The established HT model is a unique and powerful tool that can be used for the development and screening of media formulations, or for testing selected process parameters during both process optimization and manufacturing support campaigns.

Glucocorticoids are effective for the treatment of acute-on-chronic pre-liver failure, severe chronic hepatitis B and acute liver failure; however, the mechanism underlying the effects of treatment by glucocorticoids remains to be fully elucidated. The role and detailed mechanism of how glucocorticoids prevent liver disease progression can be elucidated by investigating the apoptosis of hepatocytes following glucocorticoid treatment. Pglycoproteins (Pgps) also confer resistance to apoptosis induced by a diverse range of stimuli. Glucocorticoids, particularly dexamethasone (DEX), upregulate the expression of Pgp in several tissues. In the present study, the normal human L02 liver cell line was used, and techniques, including immunocytochemistry, western blot analysis, flow cytometry and reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis were used for determining the expression levels of Pgps, and for evaluating the effect of DEX pretreatment on the expression of Pgps. DEX (110 microM) was added to the cell culture media and incubated for 2472 h. The results revealed that DEX upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of Pgp in a dose and timedependent manner. Subsequently, tumor necrosis factorrelated apoptosisinducing ligand (TRAIL) was used for the induction of apoptosis in the cells, followed by a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay to assess the apoptotic stages. The results demonstrated that apoptosis in the group of cells, which were pretreated with DEX was significantly lower than that in the control group. Treatment with tariquidar, a Pgp inhibitor, reduced the antiapoptotic effects of DEX. These results established that DEX protects normal human liver cells from TRAILinduced apoptosis by upregulating the expression of P-gp. These observations may be useful for elucidating the mechanism of DEX for preventing the progression of liver disease.

This review focuses on cultivation of mammalian cells in a suspended perfusion mode. The major technological limitation in the scaling-up of these systems is the need for robust retention devices to enable perfusion of medium as needed. For this, cell retention techniques available to date are presented, namely, cross-flow filters, hollow fibers, controlled-shear filters, vortex-flow filters, spin-filters, gravity settlers, centrifuges, acoustic settlers, and hydrocyclones. These retention techniques are compared and evaluated for their respective advantages and potential for large-scale utilization in the context of industrial manufacturing processes. This analysis shows certain techniques have a limited range of perfusion rate where they can be implemented (most microfiltration techniques). On the other hand, techniques were identified that have shown high perfusion capacity (centrifuges and spin-filters), or have a good potential for scale-up (acoustic settlers and inclined settlers). The literature clearly shows that reasonable solutions exist to develop large-scale perfusion processes. ? 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechol Bioeng 82: 751-765, 2003.

Mechanisms for increased antibody production in batch cultures of murine hybridoma cells in response to hyperosmotic stress were investigated. The rates of immunoglobulin transcription and protein translation and posttranslational processing were determined in control and hyperosmotic cultures. Changes in immunoglobulin transcription played a minor role in the increase in antibody production in response to hyperosmotic stress. In contrast, protein translation increased substantially in response to osmotic stress. However, the antibody translation rate remained relatively constant after correcting for the overall increase in protein translation. Cell size and intracellular antibody pool also increased in response to hyperosmolarity. The intracellular antibody pool increased proportionately with the increase in cell size, indicating that hyperosmotic cultures do not selectively increase their intracellular antibody population. Changes in cell cycle distribution in response to osmotic stress and the relationship between the cell cycle and antibody production were also evaluated. Hyperosmotic stress altered the cell cycle distribution, increasing the fraction of the cells in S-phase. However, this change was uncorrelated with the increase in antibody production rate. Immunoglobulin degradation was relatively low (15%) and remained largely unchanged in response to hyperosmotic stress. There was no apparent increase in immunoglobulin stability as a result of osmotic stress. Antibody secretion rates increased approximately 50% in response to osmotic stress, with a commensurate increase in the antibody assembly rate. The rate of transit through the entire posttranslational processing apparatus increased, particularly for immunoglobulin light chains. The levels of endoplasmic reticulum chaperones did not increase as a fraction of the total cellular protein but were increased on a per cell basis as the result of an increase in total cellular protein. A difference in the interactions between the immunoglobulin heavy chains and BiP/GRP78 was observed in response to hyperosmotic conditions. This change in interaction may be correlated with the decrease in transit time through the posttranslational pathways. The increase in the posttranslational processing rate appears to be commensurate with the increase in antibody production in response to hyperosmotic stress.

To investigate the effect of hyperosmotic medium on production and aggregation of the variant of Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP)–Ang1, in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, CHO cells were cultivated in shaking flasks. NaCl and/or sorbitol were used to raise medium osmolality in the range of 300–450 mOsm/kg. The specific productivity of COMP–Ang1, q COMP–Ang1, increased as medium osmolality increased. At NaCl-450 mOsm/kg, the q COMP–Ang1 was 7.7-fold higher than that at NaCl-300 mOsm/kg, while, at sorbitol-450 mOsm/kg, it was 2.9-fold higher than that at sorbitol-300 mOsm/kg. This can be attributed to the increased relative mRNA level of COMP–Ang1 at NaCl-450 mOsm/kg which was approximately 2.4-fold higher than that at sorbitol-450 mOsm/kg. Western blot analysis showed that COMP–Ang1 aggregates started to occur in the late-exponential phase of cell growth. When sorbitol was used to raise the medium osmolality, a severe aggregation of COMP–Ang1 was observed. On the other hand, when NaCl was used, the aggregation of COMP–Ang1 was drastically reduced at NaCl-400 mOsm/kg. At NaCl-450 mOsm/kg, the aggregation of COMP–Ang1 was hardly observed. This suggests that environmental conditions are critical for the aggregation of COMP–Ang1. Taken together, the use of NaCl-induced hyperosmotic medium to cell culture process turns out to be an efficient strategy for enhancing COMP–Ang1 production and reducing COMP–Ang1 aggregation.

Abstract BACKGROUND Changes in glycosylation profiles of monoclonal antibodies can have significant impact upon the product quality. Control of critical process parameters in order to ensure consistent product quality is one of the core requirements of the FDA's QbD and PAT initiatives. The effect of operating conditions upon cell metabolism and the glycosylation profile of monoclonal antibody produced using hybridoma cell culture is investigated in this report. RESULTS PCA analysis of online process data and amino acid concentration profiles reflecting the cell metabolism indicates significant dependence on the operating conditions, particularly DO and pH. PLS models predicting product titre based on amino acid concentration and those predicting the glycosylation profile either based on product titre and glucose concentration or on amino acid concentrations show that both titre and glycosylation can be predicted with satisfactory accuracy for a range of operating conditions. CONCLUSIONS Accurate prediction of product titre and glycosylation profile based on amino acid concentration and process variables easily measured in real time opens up the opportunity to control the product quantity and quality during cultivation using critical process parameters, such as pH and DO. 2014 Society of Chemical Industry

ABSTRACT The effects of dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) on hybridoma cell physiology were examined in a continuous stirred tank bioreactor with a murine hybridoma cell line (167.4G5.3). Dissolved oxygen concentration was varied between 0% and 100% air saturation. Cell growth and viability, carbohydrate, amino acid, and energy metabolism, oxygen uptake, and antibody production rates were investigated. Cell growth was inhibited at both high and low DO. Cells could grow at 0% DO and maintain viability under a nitrogen atmosphere. Cell viability was higher at low DO. Glucose, glutamine, and oxygen consumption rates changed little at DO above 1% air saturation. However, the metabolic uptake rates changed below 1% DO, where growth became oxygen limited, and a Km value of 0.6% DO was obtained for the specific oxygen uptake rate. The metabolic rates of glucose, glutamine, lactate, and ammonia increased 2-3-fold as the DO dropped from 1% to 0%. Amino acid metabolism followed the same general pattern as that of glutamine and glucose. Alanine was the only amino acid produced. The consumption rates of amino acids changed little above 1% DO, but under anaerobic conditions the consumption rates of all amino acids increased severalfold. Cells obtained most of their metabolic energy from glutamine oxidation except under oxygen limitation, when glucose provided most of the energy. The calculated ATP production rate was only slightly influenced by DO and rose at 0% DO. Antibody concentration was highest at 35% DO, while the specific antibody production rate was insensitive to DO.

Lithium chloride (LiCl), which is a specific inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3 , is known to induce cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and to regulate apoptosis. To determine the potential of LiCl as a chemical additive to enhance specific productivity (q p) of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells through cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, rCHO cells producing Fc-fusion protein were cultivated in serum-free media with LiCl concentrations ranging from 0 to 20 mM. The addition of LiCl induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and thereby decreased the specific cell growth rate. However, LiCl increased q p in a dose-dependent manner. The beneficial effect of LiCl on q p outweighed its detrimental effect on , resulting in improved maximum Fc-fusion protein concentration (MFPC) at 10 mM LiCl. The q p and MFPC in the bioreactor culture with 10 mM LiCl were 5.0 and 2.1 times higher than those without LiCl, respectively. In addition, the presence of LiCl at 10 mM did not significantly affect either intracellular 2,3-ST or extracellular sialidase activity. LiCl also inhibited apoptosis of cells in the decline phase of growth by increasing Bcl-2 expression. Taken together, the results obtained in this study demonstrate the potential of LiCl as a q p-enhancing additive in CHO cell culture for improved recombinant protein production.

A balanced supplementation method was applied to develop a serum and protein- free medium supporting hybridoma cell batch culture. The aim was to improve systematically the initial formulation of the medium to prevent limitations due to unbalanced concentrations of vitamins and amino acids. In a first step, supplementation of the basal formulation with 13 amino acids, led to an increase of the specific IgA production rate from 0.60 to 1.07 pg cell(-1) h(-1). The specific growth rate remained unchanged, but the supplementation enabled maintenance of high cell viability during the stationary phase of batch cultures for some 70 h. Since IgA production was not growth- related, this resulted in an approximately4-fold increase in the final IgA concentration, from 26.6 to 100.2 mgl(-1). In a second step, the liposoluble vitamins E and K(3) were added to the medium formulation. Although this induced a slightly higher maximal cell concentration, it was followed by a sharp decline phase with the specific IgA production rate falling to 0.47 pg cell(-1) h(-1). However, by applying a second cycle of balanced supplementation with amino acids this decline phase could be reduced and a high cell viability maintained for over 300 h of culture. In this vitamin- and amino acid- supplemented medium, the specific IgA production rate reached a value of 1.10 pg cell(-1)h(-1) with a final IgA concentration of 129.8 mgl(-1). The latter represents an increase of approximately5-fold compared to the non- supplemented basal medium.

Glucocorticoids are known to modulate various cellular functions such as cell proliferation, metabolism, glycosylation, and secretion of many proteins. We tested the effect of hydrocortisone (HC) on cell growth, viability, metabolism, protein production, and glycosylation of an Fc-protein expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell culture. HC extended cell viability but impaired cell growth. The inhibitory effect on cell growth was dose-dependent and decreased when the glucocorticoid addition was delayed. When HC was added after 2 or 3 days of culture, an increase in glutamate consumption was observed, which was reversed by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone (Mif). Titer and specific productivity increased in the presence of HC. The increase in titer was only slightly reversed by Mif. On the other hand, Mif by itself induced an increase in titer to a level comparable to or higher than HC. Protein glycosylation was altered by the glucocorticoid in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with a shift to more acidic bands, which correlated with an increase in sialic acid moieties. This increase, which was not linked to a decrease in extracellular sialidase activity in HC-treated cultures, was reversed by Mif. Predictive models based on design of experiments enabled the definition of optimal conditions for process performance in terms of viability and titer and for the quality of the Fc-fusion protein in terms of glycosylation. The data obtained suggest a use of glucocorticoids for commercial production of Fc-fusion proteins expressed in CHO cells. 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012

Abstract Sp2/0 hybridoma cells die principally by apoptosis in batch culture. We have found that cultures of the Sp2/0 hybridoma exhibit increased viability in response to interleukin 6 (IL-6) supplementation relative to control cultures during serum shiftdown experiments. When shifted from a medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) to a medium with 1% FBS, IL-6 supplemented cultures displayed viabilities and viable cell densities similar to control cultures containing 10% FBS. The degree of the survival response induced varied in accordance with the severity of the shiftdown, as cells resuspended in a high serum medium showed little observable enhancement in viability. The extension in culture viability was not accompanied by an observable decrease in growth relative to control cultures, indicating that the effect was not a consequence of growth inhibition. These results suggest the existence of serum components with behavior functionally similar to IL-6, with respect to enhancing cell survival, and that under certain experimental conditions IL-6 serves as a survival factor. In contrast to the extended viability displayed by cultures supplemented with IL-6, Sp2/0 cultures transfected with IL-6 cDNA expression vectors displayed a growth inhibitory response relative to control cultures. This inhibitory response was characterized by an extended lag phase following inoculation, and a decrease in batch culture cell yield. The depression in cell yield varied with serum concentration, with the largest depression occurring at high serum concentrations. We conclude that interactions between components in serum, presumably growth factors, and cytokines play an important role in altering the behavior of industrially relevant cell lines in culture. 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 55: 439 446, 1997.