• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.453-458
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• 1998

Human thrombopoietin (hTPO) was expressed to high levels in insect cells using the baculovirus expression system. Full-length hTPO cDNA containing a native signal peptide sequence was amplified by PCR from a human fetal liver cDNA library and cloned into the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) expression vector. Immunoblot analysis with antiserum against hTPO indicated that an approximately 55 kDa protein was produced in recombinant AcNPV infected insect cells. Recombinant hTPO was produced 4-fold higher in Trichoplusia ni (Tn5) cells than in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells. with most of the hTPO produced in Tn5 cells secreted into the culture medium. Addition of tunicamycin in the culture medium resulted in the reduction of the size of hTPO to 35-38 kDa, and most of the protein remained within the cell. These results suggest that N-glycosylation of hTPO is required for the secretion of the protein into the culture medium in insect cells. hTPO produced in insect cells induced proliferation and maturation of megakaryocyte progenitors, indicating that it is in a biologically active form.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.553-559
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• 1998

cDNA of human thrombopoietin (hTPO) amplified by polymerase chain reaction from a cDNA library of human fetal liver was cloned. EPO-like domains ($hTPO_{153} \;or\; hTPO_{l63})\; of\; hTPO(hTPO_{332}$) were expressed in Escherichin coli using several kinds of expression systems, such as ompA secretion, thioredoxin fusion, and the $P_L$ and T7 expression systems. To obtain $hTPO_{153}$ in soluble form, $hTPO_{153}$ cDNA was fused in-frame behind the gene encoding ompA signal sequence and thioredoxin protein. When fused with either of the genes, $hTPO_{153}$ was not expressed to the detectable level. However, a high level expression of the EPO-like domain of hTPO was obtained using the PL and T7 expression system. $hTPO_{153} \;or\; hTPO_{l63} cDNA were subcloned into the pLex and pET-28a(＋) vectors under the control of the inducible$ P_L\;T_7$ promoter, respectively. Proteins expressed using pl.ex vector and pET-28a(＋) detected in insoluble forms with an expression level of about 14% and 9% of total cellular proteins, respectively, and the level of expression was rapidly diminished in 2 h after the maximum level of expression was reached.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.105-108
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• 2003

To enhance the performance of a serum-free medium (SFM) for human thrombopoietin (hTPO) production in suspension cultures of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells, several low-cost hydrolysates such as yeast hydrolysate (YH), soy hydrolysate, wheat gluten hydrolysate and rice hydrolysate were tested as medium additives. Among various hydrolysates tested, the positive effect of YH on hTPO production was most significant. When 5 g/L YH was added to SFM, the maximum hTPO concentration in batch culture was 40.41 ${\mu}g/mL$, which is 11.5 times higher than that in SFM without YH supplementation. This enhanced hTPO production in YH-supplemented SFM was obtained by the combined effect of enhanced $q_{hTPO}$ and increased culture longevity. In addition YH supplementation did not affect in vivo biological activity of hTPO. Taken together, the results obtained demonstrate the potential of YH as a medium additive for hTPO production in serum-free suspension cultures of rCHO cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1497-1504
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• 2007

To investigate the function and secretion of human thrombopoietin (TPO) in mammalian cells, hTPO cDNA was cloned using human liver cDNA, and recombinant hTPO (rec-hTPO) was produced in CHO cell lines. In addition, six N-linked glycosylation sites were substituted for Ala to elucidate the role of each carbohydrate chain. To analyze the biological activity, rec-hTPO protein was injected subcutaneously. Blood was withdrawn for platelet determination. The metabolic clearance rate (MCR) was also analyzed at the 1, 4, 10 and 24 hr after tail vein injection. Wild-type TPO (WT) was efficiently secreted into the medium. However, a hTPO mutant with 116 deleted nucleotides detected by PCR cloning was not secreted. The N-linked glycosylation sites had nearly the same expression quantity as rec-hTPO WT apart from mutants 3 and 4. The glycosylation site of mutant 4 appeared to be an indispensable site for hTPO secretion. Also characterized was the biological activity through an injection with rec-hTPO (10 ng) to ICR mice (7 weeks). The result of the blood analysis showed a considerable increase in the platelet number six days after He injection. To analyze the pharmacokinetics, rec-hTPO was injected into the tail vein (5 ng). The result was 200 pg/ml 1hr after this injection. Following this, it dramatically decreased and virtually disappeared 10 hours after the injection. Thus, rec-hTPO may be a treatment for thrombopenia by the production of the high active rec-hTPO. In addition, hTPO can permit the development of potent new analogues that stimulate the platelet value.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 2008

We report here the generation of transgenic chickens that produce human Thrombopoietin (hTPO) using replication-defective Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV)-based vectors packaged with vesicular stomatitis virus G glycoprotein (VSV-G). For the retrovirus vectors, we used hCMV (human Cytomegalovirus) internal promoter to drive the hTPO gene. After confirming the expression of the hTPO gene in various target cells, the concentrated solution of recombinant retrovirus was injected beneath the blastoderm of non-incubated chicken embryos (stage X). The biological activity of the recombinant hTPO in target cell was significantly higher than its commercially available counterpart. Out of 132 injected eggs, 11 chicks hatched after 21 days of incubation and 4 hatched chicks were found to express vector-encoded hTPO gene. However, 3 out of the 4 transgenics died within one month of hatching. The major significance of this study is that it is one of the very few successful reports on the production of transgenic chickens as bioreactors aiming mass production of commercially valuable and biological active human cytokine proteins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.318-322
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• 1999

A new baculovirus transfer vector (pPGP404) was constructed to increase the expression level of human thrombopoietin (hTPO) in insect cells. In pPGP404, hTPO was cloned next to the AcNPV polyhedrin-gp64 dual promoter and the leader sequence of hTPO was substituted with that of gp64. A recombinant baculovirus, AcPGP404, was constructed by using pPGP404 as a transfer vector. hTPO was expressed in AcPGP404-infected TN5 cells and it was observed that the expression levels of hTPO in TN5 cells increased three-fold ($6.0 {\mu}g/ml^{-1}$) compared to the level expressed under the control of the polyhedrin single promoter. These results indicate that the polyhedrin-gp64 dual promoter system would be useful for expression in large quantities of recombinant proteins in insect cells.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.177-186
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• 2009

It is well-known that unregulated over-expression of foreign gene may have unwanted physiological or toxic effects in transgenic animals. To circumvent these problems, we constructed retrovirus vector designed to express the foreign gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoter. However, gene expressions in the tetracycline-inducible expression system (Tet system) are not completely regulated but a little leaky due to the inherent defects in conventional Tet-based systems. A more tightly controllable regulatory system can be achieved when the advanced versions ($rtTA2^SM2$) of rtTA and a minimal promoter in responsive components (pTRE-tight) are used in combination therein. In this study, we tried to produce human thrombopoietin (hTPO) from various target cells and transgenic chickens using the retrovirus vector combined with Tet system. hTPO is the primary regulator of platelet production and has an important role in the survival and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells. In a preliminary experiment in vitro, higher hTPO expression and tighter expression control were observed in chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) cells. We also measured the biological activity of the hTPO using Mo7e cells whose proliferation is dependant on hTPO. The biological activity of the recombinant hTPO from CEF was higher than both its commercial counterpart and hTPO from other target cells. The recombinant retrovirus was injected beneath the blastoderm of non-incubated chicken embryos (stage X). Out of 138 injected eggs, 15 chicks hatched after 21 days of incubation. Among them, 8 hatched chicks were hTPO positive. When the Go transgenic chicken was fed doxycycline (0.5 mg per 1 gram of feed), a tetracycline derivative, hTPO concentration of the transgenic chicken blood was 200 ng/mL. Germline transmission of the transgene was confirmed in sperm of the Go transgenic roosters. These results are informative to establish transgenic chickens as bioreactors for the mass production of commercially valuable and biological active human cytokine proteins.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2008

We have previously produced transgenic (TG) mice expressing the human lactoferrin (hLF), interleukin-10 (hIL-10), and thrombopoietin (hTPO) proteins in the milk. In this study, we examined whether simple crossbreeding between two kids of a single transgenic mouse can produce double transgenics co-expressing two human proteins.. The hLF male, and the hIL-10 male were crossbred with the hIL-10 and hTPO females, and the hTPO female, respectively. PCR analysis for genotyping showed 32%, 23% and 24% double transgenic rates for hLF/hIL-10, hLF/hTPO, and hIL-10/hTPO transgenes, respectively. We analyzed the expression levels of the human proteins from double transgenic mice and compared those with their single transgenic siblings. All double transgenic co-expressed two human proteins at comparable levels to singles', unless hTPO was not co-expressed: for hLF, 1.1 mg/ml in hLF/hIL-10, whereas 0.5 mg/ml in hLF/hTPO; for hIL-10, 4.1 mg/ml in hIL-10/hLF, whereas 1.4 mg/ml in hIL-10/hTPO. Ihe downregulation of hTPO to half level of singles' was observed in double transgenic mice. The possible reason why hTPO co-expressed might lead to down-regulation of another human protein was discussed. These results suggested that double transgenic generated by crossbreeding between two singles' could be useful system for bioreactor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.759-766
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• 2003

Recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cell lines expressing a high level of human thrombopoietin (hTPO) or its analog, TPO33r, were obtained by transfecting expression vectors into dihydrofolate reductase-deficient (dhfr) CHO cells and subsequent gene amplification in media containing stepwise increments in methotrexate (MTX) level such as 20, 80, and 320 nM. The parental clones with a hTPO expression level $>0.40\;{\mu}g/ml$ (27 out of 1,200 clones) and the parental clones with a TPO33r expression level $>0.20\;{\mu}g/ml$ (36 out of 400 clones) were subjected to 20 nM MTX. The clones that displayed an increased expression level at 20 nM MTX were subjected to stepwise increasing levels of MTX such as 80 and 320 nM. When subjected to 320 nM MTX, most clones did not display an increased expression level, since the detrimental effect of gene amplification on growth reduction outweighed its beneficial effect of specific TPO productivity ($q_{TPO}$) enhancement at 320 nM MTX. Accordingly, the highest producer subclones ($1-434-80^{*}$ for hTPO and $2-3-80^{*}$ for TPO33r), whose $q_{TPO}$ was 2- to 3-fold higher than that of their parental clones selected at 80 nM MTX, were isolated by limiting dilution method and were established as rCHO cel1 lines. The $q_{TPO}$ of $1-434-80^{*}\;and\;2-3-80^{*}\;was\;5.89{\pm}074\;and\;1.02{\pm}0.23\;{\mu}g/10^6$ cells/day, respectively. Southern and Northern blot analyses showed that the enhanced $q_{TPO}$ of established rCHO cell lines resulted mainly from the increased TPO gene copy number and subsequent increased TPO mRNA level. The hTPO and TPO33r produced from the established rCHO cell lines were biologically active in vivo, as demonstrated by their ability to elevate platelet counts in treated mice.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.60-60
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• 2001

Human thrombopoietin (hTPO) is a cytokine that plays a central role in megakaryopoiesis by influencing on the development and maturation of megakaryocyte and platelet production. To induce hTPO production in the mammary gland, expression vector was constructed by combining the promoter of bovine beta-casein gene, cDNA of hTPO and neomycine resistance gene for transfection into fibroblasts. Bovine fibroblast cells derived from female ear skin were transfercted with the expression vector using Lipofectamine (Life Technology, NY). Transected cells resistant to G4l8 treatment (600 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) were recovered and colony formation was initiated at 13 days. The colonies with about 1 cm diameter were picked and analysed by PCR. Single transfected cells were individually transferred to enucleated oocytes. After electrofusion, the reconstructed embryos were exposed to calcium ionophore (5uM) for 5 min followed by treatment with 6-DMAP (2.5 mM) for 4h. The nuclear transfer embryos were cultured in CRlaa medium at 38.5C, 5% $CO_2$ for 7 days. Twenty three of 29 (79.3%) colonies were proved to be hTPO transfectants by PCR. The colonies were further passaged and used to produce transgenic embryos using nuclear transfer. Cleavage and developmental rates of reconstructed embryos to the blastocyst stage were 65.1% and 39.4%, respectively Of 22 blastocysts that developed from reconstructed embryos with the transfected cell, 20 embryos (90.9%) were positive for hTPO by using PCR analysis. The results suggest that somatic cell nuclear transfer is efficient for production of transgenic embryos.