Inclusion of S-sepharose beads in the culture medium significantly improves recovery of secreted rBPI(21) from transfected CHO-K1 cells.

rBPI(23), a recombinant N-terminal fragment of human bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), kills gram-negative bacteria and binds endotoxin. rBPI(21), a variant, in which cysteine 132 is changed to alanine, retains the activities of rBPI(23). Initial attempts using conventional ion-exchange chromatography to purify rBPI(23) from culture supernatants of transfected CHO-K1 cells resulted in lower than expected yields. Also, ELISA of supernatants from CHO-K1 transfectants expressing rBPI(23) or rBPI(21) yielded variable signals. Results from pulse-chase experiments using [(35)S]methionine had indicated that rBPI(23) could not be detected in the culture medium by 7 h of chase, suggesting that these proteins were degraded and/or bound to cells, media components, or vessel surfaces. To address these issues, we developed a novel process whereby sterile S-Sepharose beads were added directly to the cell culture medium. For attached cells, the beads were added to confluent cultures with serum-free medium for the expression phase, while for suspension-adapted cells, beads were added at the beginning of culture growth. The S-Sepharose was then separated from cells and media and washed, and BPI was eluted with high-salt buffer. This approach yielded up to a 50-fold improvement in recovery of rBPI(23) and rBPI(21) from roller bottles, shake flasks, and 2-liter fermenters. It also resulted in improved detection and quantitation of secreted rBPI(23) and rBPI(21) by ELISA. Results of competition binding studies with iodinated rBPI(21) in conjunction with unlabeled rBPI(21) and rBPI(23) or with heparin demonstrated that these proteins bound specifically and with high affinity to heparan-containing sites on the surface of the CHO-K1 cells. We conclude that the S-Sepharose included in the culture medium captures the BPI protein products as they are secreted and protects them from degradation and/or irreversible binding to cell surfaces. This method has been scaled up to a manufacturing process in large (2750 liter) fermenters for pharmaceutical production. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.