Enhancing titers and productivity of rCHO clones with a combination of an optimized fed-batch process and ER-stress adaptation.

To increase the productivity of rCHO cells, many cell engineering approaches have been demonstrated that over-express or knockout a specific gene to achieve increased titers. In this work, we present an alternate approach, based on the concept of evolutionary adaptation, to achieve cells with higher titers. rCHO cells, producing a monoclonal antibody, are adapted to ER-stress, by continuous culturing under increasing concentration of tunicamycin.

The Familial α-Synuclein A53E Mutation Enhances Cell Death in Response to Environmental Toxins Due to a Larger Population of Oligomers.

Amyloid formation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) and its familial mutations are directly linked with Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. Recently, a new familial α-Syn mutation (A53E) was discovered, associated with an early onset aggressive form of PD, which delays α-Syn aggregation. When we overexpressed wild-type (WT) and A53E proteins in cells, showed neither toxicity nor aggregate formation, suggesting merely overexpression may not recapitulate the PD phenotype in cell models.

Activation of unfolded protein response pathway is important for valproic acid mediated increase in immunoglobulin G productivity in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Process engineering to improve product quality and titers is gaining importance at late-stage cell culture process development. Valproic acid, a US Food and Drug Administration-approved histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been shown to improve cell culture performance with higher productivities and minimal effect on the product quality. However, the wider physiological impact of valproic acid on recombinant cells has not been investigated till date.