Recombinant proteins including monoclonal antibodies

Recombinant proteins produced in animal cells provide essential therapies in various diseases, including anemia (erythropoietin), viral hepatitis (interferon), hemophilia (Factor VIII), cancer treatment (numerous monoclonal antibodies), among others. Animal cells are essential as they can provide these proteins with the necessary human-like post-translational modifications.

At the Animal Cell Technology (ACT) Unit, we have been working on the development of recombinant protein production platforms using a wide variety of animal cells and different expression strategies — stable or transient gene expression, by transfection with plasmid vectors or using the baculovirus insect cell system (BEVS). For upstream process development, we have been using stirred-tank bioreactors with different capacities (from 200 mL up to 30 L), operated in batch, fed-batch, or perfusion modes. Chromatography-based techniques, namely expanded bed and affinity chromatography, have been developed in our group to purify recombinant proteins.