Abstract Replicative DNA polymerases (pols) synthesize chromosomal DNA with high accuracy and speed during cell division. In eukaryotes the process involves three family B pols (α, δ, ε), whereas in Archaea, two types of pols, families B and D, are involved. In this study the B-subunits of replicative pols were analysed at the DNA, RNA and protein levels. By cloning the cDNAs for the B-subunits of human and mouse pol ε we were able to show that the encoded proteins are not only homologous to budding yeast pol ε, but also to the second largest subunit of pol α. Later studies have revealed that the B-subunits are conserved from Archaea to human, and also that they belong to the large calcineurin-like phosphoesterase superfamily consisting of a wide variety of hydrolases. At the mRNA level, the expression of the human pol ε B-subunit was strongly dependent on cell proliferation as has been observed for the A-subunit of pol ε and also for other eukaryotic replicative pols. By analysing the promoter of the POLE2 gene encoding the human pol ε B-subunit we show that the gene is regulated by two E2F-pocket protein complexes associated with the Sp1 and NF-1 transcription factors. Comparison of the promoters of the human pol ε and the pol α B-subunit indicates that the genes for the B-subunits may be generally regulated through E2F-complexes whereas adjustment of the basal activity may be achieved by distinct transcription factors. To clarify the function of the B-subunits, we screened through the expression of 13 different recombinant B-subunits. Although they were mainly expressed as insoluble proteins in E. coli, we were able to optimize the expression and purification for the B-subunit (DP1) of Methanococcus jannaschii pol D (MjaDP1). We show that MjaDP1 alone was a manganese dependent 3'-5' exonuclease with a preference for mispaired nucleotides and single-stranded DNA, suggesting that MjaDP1 functions as the proofreader of archaeal pol D. So far, pol D is the only pol family utilising an enzyme of the calcineurin-like phosphoesterase superfamily as a proofreader.

Several expression systems for recombinant protein production, essentially cells or whole organisms are currently in use today. Recently, research into recombinant protein production revealed a more attractive expression system based on the microalgae, C. reinhardtii, for significant savings in cost and production of correctly folded recombinant proteins. However, protein yield in the microalgae remain very low, non-predictable and whether this was due to limitations in the system was unclear. Using the expression of E. coli β-glucuronidase (gus) in C. reinhardtii chloroplast, the overall aim of the project was to address if the low recombinant gus yield in C. reinhardtii was due to limitations that affect growth and protein production, and if the fluxes for recombinant gus production were suboptimal (limiting). The finding was used to implement a strategy for a more predictable recombinant protein yield in C. reinhardtii. The research involved a range of experiments, analysis, and Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) modelling. The growth of C. reinhardtii cultures were characterized in autotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic conditions to identify factors that limit growth and recombinant gus yields. These factors were availability of light, carbon and nitrogen substrates, pH changes, protein burden and energetic limitation (ATP). The highest biomass was obtained in autotrophic and mixotrophic cultures (>1 g/litre), the lowest biomass was in heterotrophic cultures (~0.4 g/litre). The recombinant gus yields on the basis of dry cell weight were: mixotrophic cultures (0.038%), autotrophic cultures (0.032%), heterotrophic cultures (0.026%). No detectable protein burden was observed for expression of recombinant gus in autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions, but protein burden was significant in heterotrophic condition (15 – 18% reduction in growth rate). A strategy that significantly increased growth and cell productivity (>3 fold) in heterotrophic condition was identified. FBA was used to identify suboptimal amino acid steady state fluxes (bottlenecks) that limited the gus yield. Using FBA modelling, model verifications and corrections, a strategy that significantly increased the yield of recombinant gus in each cell (~2 fold) was identified. Put together, the total increase represents a 6 fold increase in recombinant gus yield. Furthermore, this research presented a framework for identifying, analysing and understanding the effect of the uptake of individual amino acid towards recombinant protein yield.

Le mécanisme de production des protéines, qui monopolise la majorité des ressources d'une bactérie, est hautement stochastique: chaque réaction biochimique qui y participe est due à des collisions aléatoires entre molécules, potentiellement présentes en petites quantités. La bonne compréhension de l'expression génétique nécessite donc de recourir à des modèles stochastiques qui sont à même de caractériser les différentes origines de la variabilité dans la production ainsi que les dispositifs biologiques permettant éventuellement de la contrôler.Dans ce contexte, nous avons analysé la variabilité d'une protéine produite avec un mécanisme d'autorégulation négatif: c'est-à-dire dans le cas où la protéine est un répresseur pour son propre gène. Le but est de clarifier l'effet de l'autorégulation sur la variance du nombre de protéines exprimées. Pour une même production moyenne de protéine, nous avons cherché à comparer la variance à l'équilibre d'une protéine produite avec le mécanisme d'autorégulation et celle produite en « boucle ouverte ». En étudiant un modèle limite, avec une mise à l'échelle (scaling), nous avons pu faire une telle comparaison de manière analytique. Il apparaît que l'autorégulation réduit effectivement la variance, mais cela reste néanmoins limité : un résultat asymptotique montre que la variance ne pourra pas être réduite de plus de 50%. L'effet sur la variance à l'équilibre étant modéré, nous avons cherché un autre effet possible de l'autorégulation: nous avons observé que la vitesse de convergence à l'équilibre est plus rapide dans le cadre d'un modèle avec autorégulation.Les modèles classiques de production des protéines considèrent un volume constant, sans phénomènes de division ou de réplication du gène, avec des ARN-polymérases et les ribosomes en concentrations constantes. Pourtant, les variation au cours du cycle de chacune de ces quantités a été proposée dans la littérature comme participant à la variabilité des protéines. Nous proposons une série de modèles de complexité croissante qui vise à aboutir à une représentation réaliste de l'expression génétique. Dans un modèle avec un volume suivant le cycle cellulaire, nous intégrons successivement le mécanisme de production des protéines (transcription et traduction), la répartition aléatoire des composés à la division et la réplication du gène. Le dernier modèle intègre enfin l'ensemble des gènes de la cellule et considère leurs interactions dans la production des différentes protéines à travers un partage commun des ARN-polymérases et des ribosomes, présents en quantités limitées. Pour les modèles où cela était possible, la moyenne et la variance de la concentration de chacune des protéines ont été déterminées analytiquement en ayant eu recours au formalisme des Processus Ponctuels de Poisson Marqués. Pour les cas plus complexes, nous avons estimé la variance au moyen de simulations stochastiques. Il apparaît que, dans l'ensemble des mécanismes étudiés, la source principale de la variabilité provient du mécanisme de production des protéines lui-même (bruit dit « intrinsèque »). Ensuite, parmi les autres aspects « extrinsèques », seule la répartition aléatoire des composés semble avoir potentiellement un effet significatif sur la variance; les autres ne montrent qu'un effet limité sur la concentration des protéines. Ces résultats ont été confrontés à certaines mesures expérimentales, et montrent un décalage encore inexpliqué entre la prédiction théorique et les données biologiques, ce qui appelle à de nouvelles hypothèses quant aux possibles sources de variabilité.En conclusion, les processus étudiés ont permis une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes biologiques en explorant certaines hypothèses difficilement testables expérimentalement. Des modèles étudiés, nous avons pu dégager théoriquement certaines tendances, montrant que la modélisation stochastique est un outil important pour la bonne compréhension des mécanismes d'expression génétique. / The mechanism of protein production, to which is dedicated the majority of resources of the bacteria, is highly stochastic: every biochemical reaction that is involved in this process is due to random collisions between molecules, potentially present in low quantities. The good understanding of gene expression requires therefore to resort to stochastic models that are able to characterise the different origins of protein production variability as well as the biological devices that potentially control it.In this context, we have analysed the variability of a protein produced with a negative autoregulation mechanism: i.e. in the case where the protein is a repressor of its own gene. The goal is to clarify the effect of this feedback on the variance of the number of produced proteins. With the same average protein production, we sought to compare the equilibrium variance of a protein produced with the autoregulation mechanism and the one produced in “open loop”. By studying the model under a scaling regime, we have been able to perform such comparison analytically. It appears that the autoregulation indeed reduces the variance; but it is nonetheless limited: an asymptotic result shows that the variance won't be reduced by more than 50%. The effect on the variance being moderate, we have searched for another possible effect for autoregulation: it havs been observed that the convergence to equilibrium is quicker in the case of a model with autoregulation.Classical models of protein production usually consider a constant volume, without any division or gene replication and with constant concentrations of RNA-polymerases and ribosomes. Yet, it has been suggested in the literature that the variations of these quantities during the cell cycle may participate to protein variability. We propose a series of models of increasing complexity that aims to reach a realistic representation of gene expression. In a model with a changing volume that follows the cell cycle, we integrate successively the protein production mechanism (transcription and translation), the random segregation of compounds at division, and the gene replication. The last model integrates then all the genes of the cell and takes into account their interactions in the productions of different proteins through a common sharing of RNA-polymerases and ribosomes, available in limited quantities. For the models for which it was possible, the mean and the variance of the concentration of each proteins have been analytically determined using the Marked Poisson Point Processes. In the more complex cases, we have estimated the variance using computational simulations. It appears that, among all the studied mechanisms, the main source of variability comes from the protein production mechanism itself (referred as “intrinsic noise”). Then, among the other “extrinsic” aspects, only the random segregation of compounds at division seems to have potentially a significant impact on the variance; the other aspects show only a limited effect on protein concentration. These results have been confronted to some experimental measures, and show a still unexplained decay between the theoretical predictions and the biological data; it instigates the formulations of new hypotheses for other possible sources of variability.To conclude, the processes studied have allowed a better understanding of biological phenomena by exploring some hypotheses that are difficult to test experimentally. In the studied models, we have been able to indicate theoretically some trends; hence showing that the stochastic modelling is an important tool for a good understanding of gene expression mechanisms.

A cell, the building block of all life, stores a plethora of information in its genome, epigenome, and transcriptome which needs to be analyzed via various Omic studies. The heterogeneity in a seemingly similar group of cells is an important factor to consider and it could lead us to better understand processes such as cancer development and resistance to treatment, fetal development, and immune response. There is an ever growing demand to be able to develop more sensitive, accurate and robust ways to study Omic information and to analyze subtle biological variation between samples even with limited starting material obtained from a single cell. Microfluidics has opened up new and exciting possibilities that have revolutionized how we study and manipulate the contents of the cell like the DNA, RNA, proteins, etc. Microfluidics in conjunction with Next Gen Sequencing has provided ground-breaking capabilities for handling small sample volumes and has also provided scope for automation and multiplexing. In this thesis, we discuss a number of platforms for developing low-input or single cell Omic technologies. The first part talks about the development of a novel microfluidic platform to carry out single-cell RNA-sequencing in a one-pot method with a diffusion-based reagent swapping scheme. This platform helps to overcome the limitations of conventional microfluidic RNA seq methods reported in literature that use complicated multiple-chambered devices. It also provides good quality data that is comparable to state-of-the-art scRNA-seq methods while implementing a simpler device design that permits multiplexing. The second part talks about studying the transcriptome of innate leukocytes treated with varying levels of LPS and using RNA-seq to observe how innate immune cells undergo epigenetic reprogramming to develop phenotypes of memory cells. The third part discusses a low-cost alternative to produce tn5 enzyme which low-cost NGS studies. And finally, we discuss a microfluidic approach to carrying out low-input epigenomic studies for studying transcription factors. Today, single-cell or low-input Omic studies are rapidly moving into the clinical setting to enable studies of patient samples for personalized medicine. Our approaches and platforms will no doubt be important for transcriptomic and epigenomic studies of scarce cell samples under such settings. / Doctor of Philosophy / This is the era of personalized medicine which means that we are no longer looking at one-size-fits-all therapies. We are rather focused on finding therapies that are tailormade to every individual’s personal needs. This has become more and more essential in the context of serious diseases like cancer where therapies have a lot of side-effects. To provide tailor-made therapy to patients, it is important to know how each patient is different from another. This difference can be found from studying how the individual is unique or different at the cellular level i.e. by looking into the contents of the cell like DNA, RNA, and chromatin. In this thesis, we discussed a number of projects which we can contribute to advancement in this field of personalized medicine. Our first project, MID-RNA-seq offers a new platform for studying the information contained in the RNA of a single cell. This platform has enough potential to be scaled up and automated into an excellent platform for studying the RNA of rare or limited patient samples. The second project discussed in this thesis involves studying the RNA of innate immune cells which defend our bodies against pathogens. The RNA data that we have unearthed in this project provides an immense scope for understanding innate immunity. This data provides our biologist collaborators the scope to test various pathways in innate immune cells and their roles in innate immune modulation. Our third project discusses a method to produce an enzyme called ‘Tn5’ which is necessary for studying the sequence of DNA. This enzyme which is commercially available has a very high cost associated with it but because we produced it in the lab, we were able to greatly reduce costs. The fourth project discussed involves the study of chromatin structure in cells and enables us to understand how our lifestyle choices change the expression or repression of genes in the cell, a study called epigenetics. The findings of this study would enable us to study epigenomic profiles from limited patient samples. Overall, our projects have enabled us to understand the information from cells especially when we have limited cell numbers. Once we have all this information we can compare how each patient is different from others. The future brings us closer to putting this into clinical practice and assigning different therapies to patients based on such data.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Recombinant glycoproteins are important biopharmaceuticals, providing solutions for numerous previously untreatable illnesses, in everything from cancer to infertility. Most recombinant biopharmaceuticals are produced in mammalian cells due to their ability to provide the correct post-translational processing for use in humans. The post-translation processing influences many of the protein’s properties including pharmacokinetics, bioactivity, secretion, half-life, solubility, recognition and antigenicity. The aim of this thesis is to further study the upstream production of a glycosylated recombinant protein produced by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells on production scale within the confines of an existing process. The process in question uses adherent CHO cells to produce a glycosylated recombinant hormone. As with most recombinant protein production processes, this process has two sections to the upstream production: a seed train to grow enough cells to inoculate production, and a production section, which focuses on the production of a recombinant protein. The seed train is predominantly conducted in roller bottles, while the production section takes place in perfusion bioreactors, where the cells are attached to microcarriers, with spin-filters for cell retention. The whole process uses medium with serum. There are two process challenges regarding an existing recombinant-protein production process: 1. The gradual increase, over the past several campaigns, of the final population doubling level of the cells (which must remain within certain specified limits) at the end of the seed train. 2. The low glycosylation levels of the product seen in certain campaigns, which meant that a certain number of final product batches were below the specified acceptable glycosylation limits. Following a literature survey several controlled process variables were chosen for investigation and hypotheses made on their effect on the seed train or glycosylation. To investigate their effect on the PDL and cell growth in the seed train: - Medium volume: decreasing the medium volume will yield a lower PDL due to slower cell growth caused by lower glucose availability. - Seeding density: if cells obtain confluence by the time they are harvested, decreasing the seeding density will yield a higher PDL. - Cultivation temperature: decreasing the temperature ought to decrease the growth rate. - Medium feed temperature: there will be no significant difference to the cell culture when pre-heated or cold medium is used. Aeration: using vent caps will increase the oxygen content of the medium in the roller bottles and the cell growth, yielding a higher PDL. To investigate their effect on glycosylation during production: - pH: better glycosylation will be seen at pH 6.9, than at pH 6.7. - Perfusion rate: a higher perfusion rate will lead to better glycosylation due to increased glucose and glutamine concentrations. In the seed train, the only factor that significantly influenced the final PDL was the seeding density. Cell growth was inhibited once cells reached confluence, so lowering the seeding density lead to a higher PDL. It is recommended to use a high seeding density to ensure a lower PDL. Historic data indicated that the seeding density was not the cause of the apparent increase of the final PDL, as all previous campaigns had been seeded with a high seeding density. What then became apparent was that the final PDL remained relatively constant during a campaign and that the increase in final PDL occurred between campaigns. It appears that the apparent increase in the final PDL is due to differences in cell counting between operators as each new campaign was managed by different operators. It is recommended that a mechanical cell counter be used to verify cells counts and to maintain a standard between campaigns. In the bioreactors, varying the pH proved to have no significant effect on the glycosylation levels. However, both the initial perfusion rate and the specific perfusion rate proved to be important from both historical data and the data generated during these experiments. Lower levels of the initial perfusion rate lead to better glycosylation and it is recommended that an initial perfusion rate of 1.0 volumes/day be used. The relationship between the specific perfusion rate and the glycosylation appears to be non-linear and requires further study, for now it is recommended that the specific perfusion rate be kept below 0.3 volumes/day/109 cells. Probable reasons for the unsatisfactory glycosylation seen in certain runs could also be proposed from these two factors: • RP33-133 : Very high specific perfusion rate • RP32-135 : High initial perfusion rate and very high specific perfusion rate • RP32-138 : High initial perfusion rate • RP33-139 : High initial perfusion rate Further research is recommended into the effect of the specific perfusion rate as well as the specific glucose consumption rate and the specific glutamine concentration on the glycosylation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Rekombinante glikoproteïene is baie belangrike biofarmaseutiese produkte wat oplossings bied vir talle voorheen ongeneeslike siektes in alles van kanker tot onvrugbaarheid. Meeste rekombinante farmaseutiese produkte word gemaak deur diere-selle as gevolg van hulle bevoegtheid om die korrekte na-translasie stappe te volg sodat die produkte in mense gebruik kan word. Die na-translasie stappe beïnvloed baie van die proteïene se karaktertreke insluitende die farmakokinetika, bioaktiwiteit, uitskeiding, half-leeftyd, oplosbaarheid, herkenbaarheid and antigeniciteit. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die stroomop produksie van ‘n rekombinante glikoproteïene vervaardig deur Chinese hamster ovariale (CHO) selle verder te bestudeer binne die grense van ‘n bestaande proses op grootskaalse vlak. Die huidige proses gebruik CHO selle om ‘n rekombinante glikohormoon te produseer. Soos meeste prosesse wat rekombinante proteïene produseer bestaan die stroomop gedeelte van die proses uit twee dele: ‘n saad trein wat genoeg selle maak vir produksie en ‘n produksie gedeelte wat fokus op die vervaardiging van die glikoproteïen. Die saad trein bestaan hoofsaaklik uit roller bottels terwyl produksie plaasvind in perfusie bioreaktors waar die selle op “microcarriers” groei, met spin-filters om die selle binne die bioreaktors te hou; die hele proses gebruik medium met serum. Daar is twee probleme in die stroomop gedeelte van die bestaande proses: 1. Die geleidelike toename oor die afgelope paar jaar van die finale verdubbelingsvlak van die selle aan die einde van die saad trein 2. Die lae glukosilering van die eindproduk wat veroorsaak dat sekere lotnommers buite spesifikasie is Na ‘n literatuur studie, was seker beheerde proses parameters gekies om verder te bestudeer en hipotesisse gemaak oor hulle effek op die saad trein of die vlak van glukosilering. Die volgende faktore is bestudeer vir hulle effek op die finale verdubbelingsvlak van die selle in die saad trein: - Medium volume: ‘n laer medium volume sal lei tot a laer verdubbelingsvlak van die selle as gevolg van stadige groei - Konsentrasie van selle vir inokulasie: as die selle konfluent is teen die tyd wat hulle versamel word sal ‘n laer konsentrasie selle lei tot ’n hoër verdubellingsvlak. - Temperatuur: laer temperatuur behoort te lei tot ‘n stadiger groei koers van die selle - Medium voer-temperatuur: die voer-temperatuur van die medium sal geen beduidende verskil maak - Belugting: die gebruik van “vent-caps” sal die suurstof inhoud van die roller bottels verhoog Die volgende faktore is bestudeer vir hulle effek op die glukosilering tydens produksie: - pH: beter glukosilering word verwag by by pH 6.9 dan by pH 6.7 - Perfusie koers: ‘n hoër perfusie koers sal lei tot beter glukosilering as gevolg van hoër glukose en glutamien konsentrasies Die konsentrasie van die selle wat gebruik word vir inokulasie blyk die enigste faktor te wees wat die finale verdubbelingsvlak van die selle en die groei van die selle in die saad trein beïnvloed het. Die groei van die selle was beprek wanneer die selle konfluent geraak het en dus het ‘n laër sel konsentrasie by inokulasie gelei tot ‘n hoër sel verdubbelingsvlak. Dit word aanbeveel dat ‘n hoë sel konsentrasie by inokulasie gebruik word. Die geleidelike toename van die finale verdubbelingsvlak van die selle in die saad trein is waarskynlik as gevolg van die variasie in sel tellings tussen verskillende operateurs eerder as as gevolg van die beheerde proses parameters. Dit word aanbeveel dat ‘n meganiese sel-teller gebruik word om die verskil in sel tellings tussen operateurs te kontroleer en om ‘n standaard te handhaaf tussen produksie lotte. In die bioreaktors, het die pH geen beduidende invloed gehad op die glukosilering maar uit historiese data en die huidige data van hierdie eksperimente blyk albei die begin perfusie koers en die spesifieke perfusie koers ‘n belangrike invloed te hê op die glukosilering. Laër vlakke van die begin perfusie koers lei tot beter glikosilsie en dit word aanbeveel dat elke produksielot ‘n begin perfusie koers het van 1.0 volume/dag. Die verhouding tussen die glukosilering en die spesifieke perfusie koers blyk om nie-liniêr te wees nie. Nog navorsing hieroor word aanbeveel, maar vir nou word dit aanbeveel dat die spesifieke perfusie koers onder 0.3 volumes/dag/109 selle gehou word. Hierde twee faktore blyk die oorsaak te wees vir die lae glukosilering wat in sekere produksielopies gevind was: • RP33-133 : baie hoë spesifieke perfusie koers • RP32-135 : hoë begin perfusie koers en baie hoe spesifieke perfusie koers • RP32-138 : hoë begin perfusie koers • RP33-139 : hoë begin perfusie koers Dit word aanbeveel dat verdere navorsing gedoen word op die effek van die spesifieke perfusie koers asook die spesifieke koers van glukose verbruik en die spesifieke glutamien konsentrasie op die glukosilering van die produk.

Protéines difficiles à exprimer: un goulot d'étranglement pour la plupart des biologistes. J'ai choisi d'utiliser comme modèle d’étude Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus. Ce virus géant à ADN possède des protéines subissant des modifications post-traductionnelles, des structures multi-protéiques ou encore des voies enzymatiques jamais identifiées auparavant dans un virus, ce qui en font un modèle idéal pour l’étude de protéines récalcitrantes. Le but ultime de cette thèse, était de produire les protéines de capsides de Mimivirus. Le rôle de la protéine de capside dans l’assemblage de la particule virale, son infectivité et ses caractéristiques moléculaires sont d’une grande importance. Pour aller du gène à la protéine, J’ai participé à la compréhension de ce qui gouverne la terminaison de la transcription de Mimivirus et également participé à l'analyse globale du transcriptome au cours du cycle d'infection des amibes par Mimivirus. Nous avons montré que les transcrits de Mimivirus sont systématiquement polyadénylés dans des régions formant une structure secondaire en tige-boucle, même s’il n’existe pas de signal de polyadénylation canonique en amont. Nous en avons conclu que la polyadénylation de Mimivirus suit exclusivement une règle «épingle à cheveux». De plus, l’étude du transcriptome a révélé 3 phases temporelles distinctes dans le cycle infectieux: précoce, intermédiaire et tardive. Les transcrits de capsides sont tous exprimés durant la phase tardive mais leur profil d’expression ne sont pas superposables dans le temps. Les données de transcriptomique ont révélées la présence de plusieurs glycosyltransférases chez Mimivirus, dans la phase tardive du cycle, concomitant avec la production de la protéine de capside. Les informations recueillies sur l'expression des gènes à différents temps post-infection ont contribué à la conception de protocoles pour la production des protéines de capsides (la protéine majeure de capside (MCP) et ses paralogues) dans de systèmes eucaryote. / Difficult to express proteins: a bottleneck for most biologists. I have chosen to use Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus as my study model. This giant dsDNA virus possesses post-translationally modified proteins, multi-protein structures and enzyme pathways never before seen in a virus, which makes it ideal for refractory studies. The ultimate goal of my thesis was to produce the capsid proteins of Mimivirus. The role of the capsid protein in the assembly of the viral particle, its infectivity, and molecular features are of great importance. To go from gene to protein, I participated in the comprehension of what governs the post-transcriptional termination in Mimivirus and equally participated in the global analysis of the transcriptome during the infectious cycle of Acanthamoeba by Mimivirus. We have shown that the Mimivirus transcripts are systematically polyadenylated in the regions forming a stem-loop secondary structure; even when a canonical poyadenylation signal is absent We concluded that Mimivirus polyadenylation obeys a strict “Hairpin rule”. Moreover, the transcriptomic study revealed three distinct temporal phases: early, intermediate and late. The capsid transcripts are all expressed during the late phase but their expression profiles are not superimposable. The transcriptomic data also revealed the presence of several Mimivirus glycosyltransferases in the late temporal phase, concomitant with the capsid proteins. The expression data gathered throughout my thesis has contributed to the rational design of a protein production experiment to produce the major capsid protein and its three paralogs in eukaryotic systems.

The primary objectives of this research were to demonstrate that: 1.) antibiotic resistant bacteria can promote the survival of antibiotic sensitive organisms when grown simultaneously as biofilms in antibiotics, 2.) community-level multiple antibiotic resistance of polymicrobial consortia can lead to biofilm formation despite the presence of multiple antibiotics, and 3.) biofilms may benefit plasmid retention and heterologous protein production in the absence of selective pressure. Quantitative analyses of confocal data showed that ampicillin resistant organisms supported populations of ampicillin sensitive organisms in steady state ampicillin concentrations 13 times greater than that which would inhibit sensitive cells inoculated alone. The rate of reaction of the resistance mechanism influenced the degree of protection. Spectinomycin resistant organisms did not support their sensitive counterparts, although flow cytometry indicated that GFP production by the sensitive strain was improved. When both organisms were grown in both antibiotics, larger numbers of substratum-attached pairs at 2 hours resulted in greater biofilm formation at 48 hours. For biofilms grown in both antibiotics, a benefit to spectinomycin resistant organism’s population size was detectable, but the only benefit to ampicillin resistant organisms was in terms of GFP production. Additionally, an initial attachment ratio of 5 spectinomycin resistant organisms to 1 ampicillin resistant organism resulted in optimal biofilm formation at 48 hours. Biofilms also enhanced the stability of high-copy number plasmids and heterologous protein production. In the absence of antibiotic selective pressure, plasmid DNA was not detected after 48 hours in chemostats, where the faster growth rate of plasmid-free cells contributed to the washout of plasmid retaining cells. The plasmid copy number per cell in biofilms grown without antibiotic selective pressure steadily increased over a six day period. Flow cytometric monitoring of bacteria grown in biofilms indicated that 95 percent of the population was producing GFP at 48 hours. This research supports the idea that ecological interactions between bacteria contribute to biofilm development in the presence of antibiotics, and demonstrates that community-level multiple antibiotic resistance is a factor in biofilm recalcitrance against antibiotics. Additionally, biofilms may provide an additional tool for stabilizing high copy number plasmids used for heterologous protein production.

<p>The aim of this work was to investigate and determine central parameters that can be used to control and increase the solubility, quality and productivity of recombinant proteins. These central parameters should be applicable under the constraints of high-throughput protein production in <em>Escherichia coli.</em></p><p>The present investigation shows that alternative methods exist to improve solubility, quality and productivity of the recombinant protein. The hypothesis is that by reducing the synthesis rate of the recombinant protein, a higher quality protein should be produced. The feed rate of glucose can be used to decrease the synthesis rate of the recombinant protein.</p><p>The influence of feed rate on solubility and proteolysis was investigated using the <em>lac</em>UV5-promoter and two model proteins, Zb-MalE and Zb-MalE31. Zb-MalE31 is a mutated form of Zb-MalE that contains two different amino acids. These altered amino acids greatly affect the solubility of the protein. The soluble fraction is generally twice as high using Zb-MalE compared to Zb-MalE31. Using a low feed rate compared to high benefits the formation of the full-length soluble protein. Furthermore, by using a low feed rate, the proteolysis can be decreased. One other factor that influences the solubility is the amount of inducer used. An increase from 100 µM to 300 µM IPTG only results in more inclusion bodies being formed, the fraction of soluble protein is the same.</p><p>The quality aspect of protein production was investigated for a secreted version of Zb-MalE using two different feed rates of glucose and the maltose induced promoter P<em>malK</em>. It was shown that when the protein was secreted to the periplasm, the stringent response as well as the accumulation of acetic acid (even for high feed rates) was reduced. The stringent response and accumulation of acetic acid are factors that are known to affect the quality and quantity of recombinant proteins. Transporting the protein to the periplasm results in this case on a lower burden on the cell, which leads to less degradation products being formed when the protein is secreted to the periplasm.</p><p>Seeing the feed rate as a critical parameter, the high-throughput production would benefit from a variation in the feed rate. However, since the fed-batch technique is technically complicated for small volumes another approach is needed. <em>E.coli</em> strains that have been mutated to create an internal growth limitation that simulate fed-batch were cultivated in batch and were compared to the parent strain. It was shown that the growth rate and acetic acid formation was comparable to the parent strain in fed-batch. Furthermore it was shown that a higher cell mass was reached using one of the mutants when the cells were cultivated for as long time as possible. The higher cell mass can be used to reach a higher total productivity.</p>

Affibody® molecules are small therapeutic proteins which mimics antibody functionality. This is a report of several methods for increasing productivity and yield in recombinant production of Affibody® molecules. This literature study shows several steps in the production line which can be optimised, several novel methods for cultivating and harvesting cells and purication of proteins. There is also a section about validation of therapeutic protein production according to The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) are presented.

Abstract Potential lethal diarrhoea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains is one of the most common diseases in young pigs. It can be cured by single-chain antibody fragments (scFv), which can be produced in recombinant microorganisms. Pichia pastoris, a methylotrophic yeast, is generally considered an interesting production system candidate, as it can secrete properly folded proteins. These proteins accumulate in high concentrations during fermentation, reducing the cost for product recovery. Strong inducible AOX1 promoter, widely used in P. pastoris for fast, inexpensive production, is typically induced by methanol. The high oxygen demand of methanol metabolism makes oxygen supply a major parameter in cultivations requiring special process design strategies. In standard fed-batch cultivation, dissolved oxygen concentration inside a bioreactor is kept at a certain level by pumping air and pure oxygen into the reactor. There are safety concerns over the handling of oxygen, especially at a large scale. Therefore, there is a need to develop a production process under oxygen-limited conditions. This dissertation studies the development of a cost-efficient production process of scFv in P. pastoris. Both methanol and oxygen parameters influence the production process and the objective was to find a robust production process. Fed-batch cultivations were performed in a 10 L scale bioreactor. The effects of lower oxygen level, methanol concentration, glycerol feeding duration and specific substrate-uptake rates on product formation were studied. A P. pastoris GS115 his4 strain under an AOX1 promoter system expressing scFv was used in this study. The fed-batch fermentations were carried out in a bioreactor with basal salt media. In this doctoral dissertation, a process was developed for a single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) production in P. pastoris. The product levels of 3.5 g L-1 scFv in culture supernatant were achieved and a production process was designed without additional need of pure oxygen, thus relieving safety requirements and lowering the amount of methanol. The process developed during this research may potentially be utilised by both academia and industry having interests in expressing proteins in P. pastoris. The methanol-uptake control strategy is beneficial for those products that suffer from degradation or modification during limited feeding of methanol. / Tiivistelmä Enterotoksigeenisten E.coli kantojen aiheuttama ripuli on porsaiden tavallisimpia tauteja, joka voi johtaa jopa kuolemaan. Tautia voidaan hoitaa yhdistelmä-DNA-tekniikalla tuotetuilla vasta-ainefragmenteilla (scFv). Metylotrofista Pichia pastoris hiivaa pidetään kiinnostavana vasta-ainefragmenttien tuottoisäntänä, koska se pystyy erittämään oikealla tavalla laskostuneita proteiineja. Näitä proteiineja kertyy fermentointiprosessissa solujen ulkopuolelle korkeina pitoisuuksina, mikä vähentää tuotteiden talteenottokustannuksia. Vahva metanolilla indusoituva AOX1-promoottori on laajassa käytössä P. pastoris tuottosysteemissä tuoton nopeuden ja alhaisten kustannusten ansiosta. Metanolin aineenvaihdunta vaatii paljon happea, joten riittävän tehokas hapen liuottaminen on tärkeimpiä fermentointiparametreja ja vaatii erityisiä prosessin toteutusstrategioita. Perinteisessä fed-batch-fermentoinnissa liuenneen hapen pitoisuus bioreaktorissa pidetään halutulla tasolla lisäämällä ilmaa ja puhdasta happea reaktoriin. Koska hapen käsittelyyn liittyy turvallisuusriskejä erityisesti teollisuusmittakaavassa, happirajoitteisissa olosuhteissa toimiva tuotantoprosessi olisi hyödyllinen. Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa kehitettiin kustannustehokasta prosessia scFv-:n tuottoon P. pastoris hiivalla. Metanoliin ja happeen liittyvät parametrit ovat olennaisia prosessiin vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Tavoite oli kehittää yksinkertainen ja käytännöllinen prosessi. Työssä tutkittiin alhaisen happitason, metanolin pitoisuuden, glyserolisyötön keston ja substraattien spesifisten kulutusnopeuksien vaikutuksia tuotteen muodostumiseen 10 litran bioreaktorissa. Isäntäkantana oli P. pastoris GS115 his4, jossa scFv-ekspressiota säädeltiin AOX1 promoottorilla. Fed-batch fermentointien kasvatusalustana käytettiin Basal Salt Medium alustaa (BSM). Väitöstyössä kehitettiin tavoitteiden mukainen vasta-ainefragmenttien tuottoprosessi P.pastoris hiivalle. Menetelmällä saavutettiin tuotepitoisuus 3,5 g L-1 kasvatusliemen supernatantissa ilman puhtaan hapen lisäystarvetta, ja siten metanolin kulutus väheni ja prosessiturvallisuus parani verrattuna perinteisiin prosesseihin. Kehitetty prosessi soveltuu käytettäväksi sekä akateemisessa tutkimuksessa että teollisuudessa tuotettaessa erilaisia proteiineja P. pastoris hiivalla. Metanolin kulutuksen säätöstrategia on erityisen hyödyllinen tuotteille, joilla ongelmana on proteolyysi tai muokkautuminen metanolirajoitteisessa fermentoinnissa.