Profiling of glycosylation gene expression in CHO fed-batch cultures in response to glycosylation-enhancing medium components

Introduction Characterization of the glycosylation profile of a recombinant protein product is an important part of defining product quality in the bioproduction industry. Development of a protein with desired characteristics would require the capacity to modify and target specific glycosylation patterns as well as an understanding of the implications of changes to these glycosylation profiles. Previous cell culture studies have demonstrated the ability to modulate glycan profiles without negative impact to culture growth and product titer through the addition of glycosylationenhancing medium components. With new methods, including increased measurement sensitivity and new capabilities in RNA-Seq technology, it is possible to develop a glycosylation gene expression profile for CHO cells. Specific glycosylation genes can then be tracked to ensure that the addition of these compounds will not negatively impact gene expression. Analyses comparing growth and titer, glycan distribution, and transcriptome differences can present us with potential insight into what changes are taking place on a genetic level in the cell in response to changes in medium and culture conditions.