Production of bifunctional single-chain antibody-based fusion proteins in Pichia pastoris supernatants

Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2008 Oct;31(6):559-68. doi: 10.1007/s00449-008-0203-y. Epub 2008 Feb 6.

Abstract

Recombinant antibody fusion constructs with heterologous functional domains are a promising approach to new therapeutic targeting strategies. However, expression of such constructs is mostly limited to cost and labor-intensive mammalian expression systems. Here we report on the employment of Pichia pastoris for the expression of heterologous antibody fusion constructs with green fluorescent protein, A33scFv::GFP, or with cytosine deaminase, A33scFv::CDy, their production in a biofermenter and a modified purification strategy. Combined, these approaches improved production yields by about thirty times over established standard protocols, with extracellular secretion of the fusion construct reaching 12.0 mg/l. Bifunctional activity of the fusion proteins was demonstrated by flow cytometry and an in-vitro cytotoxicity assay. With equal amounts of purified protein, the modified purification method lead to higher functional results. Our results demonstrate the suitability of methylotrophic Pichia expression systems and laboratory-scale bioreactors for the production of high quantities of bifunctionally active heterologous single-chain fusion proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies / chemistry*
  • Biomass
  • Bioreactors
  • Cytosine Deaminase / chemistry
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Enzymes / chemistry
  • Fermentation
  • Flow Cytometry / methods
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / chemistry
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Methanol / chemistry
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Pichia / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Enzymes
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Cytosine Deaminase
  • Oxygen
  • Methanol