Controlling Specific Growth Rate for Recombinant Protein Production by Pichia pastoris Under Oxidation Stress in Fed-batch Fermentation

Abstract

Methanol can be used by Pichia pastoris as the carbon source and inducer to produce recombinant proteins in high-cell-density fermentations. However, methanol oxidation at high specific growth rates can lead to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, resulting in cell damage. Here, we study the relationship between methanol feeding and ROS accumulation by controlling specific growth rate during the induction phase. A higher specific growth rate increased the level of ROS accumulation caused by methanol oxidation. While the cell growth rate was proportional to specific growth rate, maximum total protein production and highest enzyme activity were achieved at a specific growth rate of 0.05 1/h as compared to that of 0.065 1/h. Moreover, oxidative damage induced by over-accumulation of ROS in P. pastoris during the methanol induction phase caused cell death and reduced protein expression ability. ROS scavenging system analysis revealed that the higher specific growth rate, especially 0.065 1/h, resulted in increased intracellular catalase activity and decreased glutathione content significantly. Finally, Spearman's correlation analysis further revealed that the reduced glutathione might be beneficial for maintaining cell viability and increasing protein production under oxidative stress caused by ROS toxic accumulation. Our findings suggest an integrated strategy to control the feeding of the essential substrate based on analyzing its response to oxidative stress caused by ROS toxic accumulation, as well as develop a strategy to optimize fed-batch fermentation.

Keywords: Cell viability; Glutathione; High cell density fermentation; Oxidative damage; Reactive oxygen species.