Specific production rate of VHH antibody fragments by Saccharomyces cerevisiae is correlated with growth rate, independent of nutrient limitation

J Biotechnol. 2005 Aug 22;118(3):270-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2005.05.010.

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae carrying a multicopy integrated expression vector containing the gene encoding a Llama antibody fragment, has been cultivated in continuous cultures both under carbon and nitrogen limiting conditions with galactose as the sole carbon source. VHH-R2 expression was under control of the inducible GAL7 promoter. Induction however, was independent of the galactose consumption rate and maximal at all growth rates. VHH-R2 was secreted with 70% efficiency at all growth rates and under both limitations. The specific production rate increased linear with increasing growth rate in a growth-associated manner. However, when grown under nitrogen limitation at growth rates above 0.09 h(-1), the extracellular VHH-R2 was less active or part of the VHH-R2 was in an inactive form. From our results we conclude that to obtain a maximal amount of VHH per kilogram biomass per hour, VHH production should be done in carbon limited continuous cultures at high specific growth rates.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / biosynthesis
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / genetics
  • Bioreactors / microbiology*
  • Camelids, New World / genetics
  • Camelids, New World / immunology*
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods*
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments / biosynthesis*
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments / genetics
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments / immunology
  • Protein Engineering / methods*
  • Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / growth & development*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins