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Improvement of Tol2 Transposon System Enabling Efficient Protein Production in CHO Cells

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Abstract

Establishment of mammalian cell lines with high protein productivity is an important object in the field of biopharmaceutics. Toward this end, Tol2 transposon-based expression systems have been developed as effective means to facilitate protein productivity. Here, we proposed novel strategies to improve conventional Tol2 transposon systems. The use of Tol2 transposase mRNA as a helper vector improved the efficiency of transgene integration and protein production. Moreover, the use of the Tol2 transposon vector containing the minimum cis-sequences essential for transposition (mini-TP) also served as one of the efficient means to generate recombinant cells that enable higher protein production. Furthermore, mini-TP showed a more beneficial response to DNA methylation inhibitors, suggesting that the use of mini-TP with DNA methylation inhibitors could be used as a means of commercial production. Taken together, our results provide effective strategies to improve the Tol2 transposon-based expression system. These strategies will be applicable to the production of therapeutic proteins and open new avenues in biopharmaceutical research.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an Incheon National University research grant (2019–0011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, 22012, Korea

    Su Young Hwang, Yun Haeng Lee, Myeong Uk Kuk, Jae Won Kim & Joon Tae Park

  2. Department of Medical Sciences, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, Incheon, 22711, Korea

    Sekyung Oh

  3. Institute for Biomedical Research, Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon, 22711, Korea

    Sekyung Oh

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  1. Su Young Hwang
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Contributions

S.Y.H. and J.T.P. conceived of and designed the experiments. S.Y.H. performed the experiments. S.Y.H. and J.T.P. analyzed the data. S.Y.H., S.O. and J.T.P. wrote and edited the paper.

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Correspondence to Sekyung Oh or Joon Tae Park.

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Hwang, S.Y., Lee, Y.H., Kuk, M.U. et al. Improvement of Tol2 Transposon System Enabling Efficient Protein Production in CHO Cells. Biotechnol Bioproc E 26, 767–775 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-020-0310-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-020-0310-4

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