High-Level Expression of Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

  • PARK JUNHO (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources, and Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • YU SUNGRYUL (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources, and Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • YOON JAESEUNG (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources, and Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • BAEK KWANGHEE (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources, and Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University)
  • Published : 2005.12.01

Abstract

Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) is a signaling homodimeric molecule that acts as a morphogen to influence cell fate in a concentration-dependent manner. The limited supply of a pure preparation of BMP-4, due to very low level of their expression in vivo, makes it difficult not only to study the biological activities of BMPs, but also to use them as a clinical tool. For a large-scale production of BMP-4, human BMP-4 cDNA was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by a recently development vector system, which confers position-independent stable expression of the foreign genes. The CHO cell line expressing recombinant human BMP-4 (rhBMP-4) at the level of $7\;{\mu}g/ml$ could be obtained after stepwise selection with methotrexate. This level of expression is about 70 times higher than those previously reported. The partially processed form of BMP-4 as well as mature form could be detected, when the aliquots of culture media were analyzed by Western blot. The glycosylation pattern and biological activity of the rhBMP-4 were determined by glycosidase treatment and the induction rate of alkaline phosphatase in mouse osteoblastic cells.

Keywords

References

  1. Hogan, B. L. 1996. Bone morphogenetic proteins: Multifunctional regulators of vertebrate development. Genes Dev. 10: 1580-1594 https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.10.13.1580
  2. Cho, K. W. and I. L. Blitz. 1998. BMPs, Smads and metalloproteases: Extracellular and intracellular modes of negative regulation. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 8: 443-449 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-437X(98)80116-0
  3. Nakayama, T., Y. Cui, and J. L. Christian. 2000. Regulation of BMP/Dpp signaling during embryonic development. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 57: 943-956 https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000736
  4. Christian, J. L. and T. Nakayama. 1999. Can't get no SMADifaction: Smad proteins as positive and negative regulators of TGF-$\beta$ family signals. BioEssays 21: 382-390 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(199905)21:5<382::AID-BIES5>3.0.CO;2-V
  5. Shi, Y. and J. Massague. 2003. Mechanisms of TGF-beta signaling from cell membrane to the nucleus. Cell 113: 685-700 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00432-X
  6. Aono, A., M. Hazama, K. Notoya, S. Taketomi, H. Yamasaki, R. Tsukuda, S. Sasaki, and Y. Fujisawa. 1995. Potent ectopic bone-inducing activity of bone morphogenetic protein-4/7 heterodimer. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 210: 670-677 https://doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1995.1712
  7. Cui, Y., R. Hackenmiller, L. Berg, F. Jean, T. Nakayama, G. Thomas, and J. L. Christian. 2001. The activity and signaling range of mature BMP-4 is regulated by sequential cleavage at two sites within the prodomain of the precursor. Genes Dev. 15: 2797-2802
  8. Degnin, C., F. Jean, G. Thomas, and J. L. Christian. 2004. Cleavage within the prodomain direct intracellular trafficking and degradation of mature bone morphogenetic protein-4. Mol. Biol. Cell 15: 5012-5020 https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E04-08-0673
  9. Kim, J.-M., J.-S. Kim, D.-H. Park, H. S. Kang, J. Yoon, K. Baek, and Y. Yoon. 2004. Improved recombinant gene expression in CHO cells using matrix attachment regions. J. Biotechnol. 107: 95-105 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2003.09.015
  10. Kozak, M. 1984. Compilation and analysis of sequences upstream from the translational start site in eukaryotic mRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 4: 857-872
  11. Hammonds, R. G. Jr., R. Schwall, A. Dudley, L. Berkemeier, C. Lai, J. Lee, N. Cunningham, A. H. Reddi, W. I. Wood, and A. J. Mason. 1991. Bone-inducing activity of mature BMP-2b produced from a hybrid BMP-2a/2b precursor. Mol. Endocrinol. 5: 149-155 https://doi.org/10.1210/mend-5-1-149
  12. Ciudad, C. K., G. Urlaub, and L. A. Chasin. 1988. Deletion analysis of the Chinese hamster dihydrofolate reductase gene promoter. J. Biol. Chem. 263: 16274-16282
  13. Chung, J. Y., H. K. Ahn, S. W. Lim, Y. H. Sung, Y. W. Koh, S. K. Park, and G. M. Lee. 2003. Development of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cell lines producing human thrombopoietin or its analog. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 13: 759-766
  14. Suzuki, A., S. Nishimatsu, A. Shoda, K. Takebayashi, and K. Murakami. 1993. Biochemical properties of amphibian bone morphogenetic protein-4 expressed in CHO cells. Biochem. J. 291: 413-417 https://doi.org/10.1042/bj2910413
  15. Kim, E., D. Kim, H.-Y. Hwang, J. Yoon, Y. Yoon, and K. Baek. 2004. High-level expression of recombinant human interleukin-2 in Chinese hamster ovary cells using the expression system containing transcription terminator. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 14: 810-815
  16. Israel, D. I., J. Nove, K. M. Kern, I. K. Moutsatsos, and R. J. Kaufman. 1992. Expression and characterization of bone morphogenetic protein-2 in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Growth Factors 7: 139-150 https://doi.org/10.3109/08977199209046403