CHO TRANSFECTANTS PRODUCE LARGE AMOUNTS OF RECOMBINANT PROTEIN IN SUSPENSION-CULTURE

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with various genes are w idely used as adherent cell monolayers to produce recombinant proteins . In this report we present a new culture technique for CHO cells tran sfected with the vector pPOL-DHFR-CD14 using a minifermenter (miniPERM , Heraeus) for the production of recombinant human endotoxin receptor CD14 (rCD14). The transfectants were cultured for 12-17 days under ser um-free conditions and formed spheroids. From this system we harvested supernatants containing up to 3.1 mg/ml recombinant CD14 (rCD14). Thi s represents a 200-fold increase of rCD14 yield compared to convention al adherent CHO cell culture.