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Review
. 2024 May 24;36(3):240-250.
doi: 10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_315_23. eCollection 2024 Jul-Sep.

Enhancing recombinant antibody yield in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chee-Hing Yang  1 , Hui-Chun Li  2 , Shih-Yen Lo  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Enhancing recombinant antibody yield in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chee-Hing Yang et al. Tzu Chi Med J. .

Abstract

A range of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (rMAbs) have found application in treating diverse diseases, spanning various cancers and immune system disorders. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have emerged as the predominant choice for producing these rMAbs due to their robustness, ease of transfection, and capacity for posttranslational modifications akin to those in human cells. Transient transfection and/or stable expression could be conducted to express rMAbs in CHO cells. To bolster the yield of rMAbs in CHO cells, a multitude of approaches have been developed, encompassing vector optimization, medium formulation, cultivation parameters, and cell engineering. This review succinctly outlines these methodologies when also addressing challenges encountered in the production process, such as issues with aggregation and fucosylation.

Keywords: Cell engineering; Chinese hamster ovary cells; Plasmid construction; Recombinant antibody.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Shih-Yen Lo, an editorial board member at Tzu Chi Medical Journal, had no role in the peer review process or the decision to publish this article. The other authors declared no conflicts of interest in writing this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of recombinant antibodies from expression plasmids in mammalian cells (e.g. Chinese hamster ovary cells). Several approaches have been utilized to enhance the recombinant antibody expression, such as promoter selection, incorporation of intron with 5’-UTR, codon optimization of expression genes, control the ratio of LC/HC, etc., HC: Heavy chain, LC: light chain, UTR: Un-translated region
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of expression vectors for recombinant monoclonal antibodies. (I) Monocistronic vectors, (II) Dual-promoter expression vector, (III) Bicistronic vectors: (a) IRES-mediated vector, (b) Furin-2A-mediated vector. HC: Heavy chain, LC: Light chain, PolyA: PolyA polyadenylation signal, IRES: Internal ribosomal entry, F2A: Furin-2A. Promoters commonly used are derived from the simian vacuolating virus 40, human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter, and elongation factor-1α. The puromycin and blasticidin are widely used as selection antibiotics to establish the stable cell clones
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