ComBio 2003: Proteomics provides shortcut around antibody shortage

A predicted shortfall in global production capabilities of monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic purposes has led Queensland researchers to look at ways of boosting production of the antibodies in cell lines.

Postdoc Dr Diane Dinnis, of the University of Queensland's department of chemical engineering, is using proteomics to identify protein factors associated with increased recombinant antibody production in murine myeloma GS-NSO cell lines.

Proteins from a series of cell lines with varying levels of protein production, from very low to high, are being compared using quantitative analysis of 2D gels. Complicating the issue is the heterogeneity of clonal cell lines.

But despite identification of a small population of proteins up- or down-regulated in the cell lines producing high levels of recombinant protein, Dinnis said there was no evidence that factors involved in major protein production processes, such as the secretory pathway, had elevated expression.

Dinnis is continuing to use proteomics to search for proteins that could influence recombinant protein production, concentrating on the low abundance proteins, which requires more sophisticated computer analysis. She believes that regulatory proteins may hold the key to making rational improvements to production cell lines.