Regulation of Productivity in Trichoplusia ni and Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 Serum-Free Cultures

The aim of this work has been to characterize the effects of conditioned medium (CM) on insect cell productivity and physiology in order to get a better understanding about the mechanisms that regulate productivity in serum-free media. Two cell lines have been investigated, Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) and Trichoplusia ni (T. ni, BTI-Tn-5B14). The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) was used for protein expression, using the ligand-binding domain of the human glucocorticoid receptor as a model protein. Addition of CM at inoculation led to a shorter lag phase and that the cells reached the maximum cell density faster than cells in fresh medium for both Sf9 and T. ni cells. Sf9 cells passed a switch in growth kinetics after 30-40 passages. At this point, CM lost its stimulating effect on proliferation. CM also affected the cell size and cell cycle progression. Sf9 and T. ni cells became smaller when CM was added at inoculation because they had a minor arrest in the cell cycle after inoculation and therefore started to divide earlier than cells in fresh medium. For Sf9 cells, this was illustrated by a smaller arrest in G2/M in the beginning of culture and the cells were consequently less synchronized. For T. ni cells, the initial decrease in the S phase population was followed by an earlier increase of the S phase population for the cells with CM than for the cells in fresh medium. Addition of 20 % CM or CM filtrated with a 10 kDa cut-off filter to Sf9 cultures had a negative effect on the specific productivity. However, addition of CM to Sf9 cells that had passed the switch in growth kinetics had no negative effect on productivity. This indicates that CM not affects the protein production per se, but rather through its effects on cell physiology. Instead, the degree of cells synchronized in G2/M is important for high productivity and the gradually decreasing degree of synchronization during the course of a culture might be the explanation behind the cell density dependent decrease in productivity for Sf9 cells. This was further supported by the positive effects on productivity achieved by synchronizing Sf9 cells in G2/M by yeastolate limitation, which counteracted the cell density-dependent drop in productivity and hence a higher volumetric yield was achieved. Addition of 20 % CM to T. ni cultures had a positive effect on productivity. The specific productivity was maintained at a high level longer than for cells in 100 % fresh medium. The product concentration was 34 % higher and the maximum product concentration was obtained 24 hours earlier for the cells with the addition of CM. These results show that the effects of CM on productivity are not the same for the two cell lines and that the mechanism regulating productivity are quite complex.