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//-->Hindawi Publishing CorporationBioMed Research InternationalVolume 2013, Article ID 580463,9pagesReview ArticleExpression Systems and Species Used forTransgenic Animal BioreactorsYanli Wang,1,2Sihai Zhao,1,2Liang Bai,1,2Jianglin Fan,3and Enqi Liu1,21Laboratory Animal Center, Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, ChinaXi’an Jiaotong University Cardiovascular Research Center, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, China3Department of Molecular Pathology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi,Yamanashi 409-3898, Japan2Correspondence should be addressed to Enqi Liu; liuenqi@mail.xjtu.edu.cnReceived 2 November 2012; Revised 15 January 2013; Accepted 17 February 2013Academic Editor: James D. MurrayCopyright © 2013 Yanli Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Transgenic animal bioreactors can produce therapeutic proteins with high value for pharmaceutical use. In this paper, we compareddifferent systems capable of producing therapeutic proteins (bacteria, mammalian cells, transgenic plants, and transgenic animals)and found that transgenic animals were potentially ideal bioreactors for the synthesis of pharmaceutical protein complexes.Compared with other transgenic animal expression systems (egg white, blood, urine, seminal plasma, and silkworm cocoon), themammary glands of transgenic animals have enormous potential. Compared with other mammalian species (pig, goat, sheep, andcow) that are currently being studied as bioreactors, rabbits offer many advantages: high fertility, easy generation of transgenicfounders and offspring, insensitivity to prion diseases, relatively high milk production, and no transmission of severe diseases tohumans. Noticeably, for a small- or medium-sized facility, the rabbit system is ideal to produce up to 50 kg of protein per year,considering both economical and hygienic aspects; rabbits are attractive candidates for the mammary-gland-specific expression ofrecombinant proteins. We also reviewed recombinant proteins that have been produced by targeted expression in the mammaryglands of rabbits and discussed the limitations of transgenic animal bioreactors.1. IntroductionThe term bioreactor, which originally meant a tank in whichcells, cell extracts, or enzymes carried out a biologicalreaction, now often refers to a growth chamber (fermenteror fermentation vessel) for cells or microorganisms used inthe production of recombinant proteins. Transgenic animalbioreactors used to produce therapeutic proteins have existedfor decades; several proteins produced in these systemsare now in clinical trials, and one has been approved formarketing.Compared with other systems of production for recom-binant proteins, transgenic animal bioreactors are, overall,an attractive platform because transgenic animal bioreactorsrepresent powerful tools to address the growing need fortherapeutic recombinant proteins. The ability of transgenicanimals to produce complex, biologically active proteins inan efficient and economic manner is superior to those ofbacteria, mammalian cells, transgenic plants, and insects [1].As we know, bacteria are limited in their ability to performthe posttranslational protein modifications necessary formany targets [2,3],and transgenic plant [4–6] and insectproduction systems involve relatively slow production set-ups and have yet to cross many regulatory hurdles [7–9]. Acomparison of the different systems used to produce recom-binant pharmaceutical proteins is summarized in Table1.Another important consideration is cost. Although directcomparison of the production costs associated with thesedifferent systems is rather difficult, a previous study suggestedthat building a large-scale (10,000 liter bioreactor) manu-facturing facility for mammalian cells takes 3–5 years andcosts US$ 250–500 million, whereas a transgenic farm witha single purification facility should not cost more than US$80 million and would most likely cost less [7]. Establishinga commercial production herd of a company’s transgenicgoats could be accomplished at approximately a tenth of the2Table 1: Comparison of the different systems used to producerecombinant pharmaceutical proteins.BacteriaProduction levelInvestment costProduction costScaling-up abilityCollectionPurificationPosttranslationalmodificationsGlycosylationStability of productContaminant pathogensProducts on the marketTable adapted from [1].BioMed Research Internationalfrom these animals [11]. Since then, production of a numberof recombinant proteins from transgenic animals has beenreported. Many laboratories and pharmaceutical companieshave made efforts to produce a variety of valuable therapeuticproteins from transgenic animals, such as cows, pigs, sheep,goats, and rabbits [7,8, 12, 13].Selection of a suitable method for expressing a recombi-nant protein is dependent on the characteristics and intendedapplication of the recombinant protein [14]. Presently, milkis the most mature system for producing recombinant pro-teins from transgenic organisms. Blood, egg white, seminalplasma, silk gland, and urine are other theoretically possi-ble systems. The advantages and disadvantages of differentexpression systems are shown in Table3.2.1. Mammary Gland, the Best Bioreactor Available.Themammary gland has generally been considered the organ ofchoice to express valuable recombinant proteins in transgenicanimal bioreactors because milk is easily collected in largevolumes. Milk is currently the best available bioreactor.Foreign proteins are commonly reported to be produced intransgenic milk at rates of several grams per liter. Based on theassumption of average expression levels, daily milk volumes,and purification efficiencies, 5.400 cows would be needed toproduce the 100.000 kg of human serum albumin that arerequired per year worldwide, 4.500 sheep would be requiredfor the production of 5000 kg����-antitrypsin(����-AT), 100 goatsfor 100 kg of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 75 goats for75 kg of antithrombin III, and two pigs to produce 2 kg ofhuman clotting factor IX [15]. As a result, a great deal of efforthas been made to produce transgenic bioreactors not onlywith the traditional “dairy” species, such as sheep, goats, andcows, but also with rabbits and pigs.A number of examples leave no doubt about the capacityof the mammary gland to synthesize, mature, and secreteforeign proteins. Apart from these successes, a certain num-ber of failures in animal mammary gland systems haveoccurred for various reasons: (1) purely technical issues suchas problems in the generation of transgenic mammals, (2)the need for more fundamental knowledge in areas such asprotein maturation or secretion, and (3) the fact that certainbioactive proteins produced in milk can have adverse affectson an animal’s health; this is particularly true when theyare produced at high concentrations and the protein can bereabsorbed.2.2. Blood and Egg: Alternative Recombinant Protein SecretionMedium.The mammary gland of a transgenic animal isthe most popular protein bioreactor. However, there arealternative systems based on production of useful pharma-ceutical proteins in blood and eggs [16]. Animal blood, whichcollects secretions from many tissues, may be used as asource of recombinant proteins. For example, human����-ATwas obtained at a high level from the serum of transgenicrabbits [17], and human hemoglobin has been produced in atransgenic swine circulatory system. This protein seemed tohave been matured appropriately for its functionality [18,19].In principle, the human component of the pigs’ blood wasMammalian Transgeniccellsanimals++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Table 2: Comparative estimated production cost between cellculture and transgenics.Production scale(Kg/year)50100Table adapted from [7].SystemCell cultureTransgenicsCell cultureTransgenicsCost(dollars/gram product)14720486cost of building a commercial cell-culture facility [10]. Asshown in Table2,protein production costs are substantiallylower for transgenic animals than for cell culture. Therefore,transgenic animal bioreactors show a financial advantageover cell culture or other systems, even when all costs aretaken into account.Recombinant proteins are produced from transgenicanimal body fluids. Milk, egg white, blood, urine, seminalplasma, and silkworm cocoon from transgenic animals arecandidate sources of recombinant proteins produced at anindustrial scale.The technology for using the mammary glands of trans-genic animals as primary bioreactors has been developedfor large transgenic animals, such as cows, goats, sheep,and pigs. Instead, many laboratories and pharmaceuticalcompanies have made efforts to produce a variety of valuabletherapeutic proteins using transgenic rabbits. In this paper,we compared different systems and species of transgenicanimal bioreactors.2. Protein Production Platforms UsingTransgenic AnimalsIn 1985, Hammer and colleagues established the first trans-genic livestock animals, including sheep, rabbits, and pigs, inan attempt to develop a way to produce recombinant proteinsBioMed Research InternationalTable 3: Comparison of the different transgenic animal species used to produce recombinant pharmaceutical proteins.Points to considerProduction levelInvestment costProduction costScaling-upCollectionPurificationEffect on organismPosttranslational modificationsGlycosylationContaminant pathogensProducts on the marketTable adapted from [1].3Milk++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Blood++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Egg white++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Production systemsSeminal fluid++++++++++++++++++++++++++Urine++++++++++++++++++++++Silk cocoon++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Others++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++intended to be used as a blood substitute, but similaritiesbetween the porcine and human blood components madeisolation of the human hemoglobin arduous. Additionally,recombinant antibodies were found in the blood of transgenicgoats, pigs, and rabbits [20,21].Blood is a less-than-idealfluid for protein production because its harvest is invasive andbioactive proteins could affect an animal’s health to the pointof making the system impractical.The use of transgenic eggs for large-scale production ofrecombinant proteins is another method being contemplated.Interest in this system is driven by the fact that a singlehen can produce an impressive number of eggs (up to 330eggs/year) and egg white naturally contains approximately4 g of protein [22–24]. Transgenic chicken stably produced ahuman erythropoietin fusion protein not only in their serumand egg white but also in the egg yolk, as was expected [25].However, the egg system has been hampered by the lack of anefficient transgenesis system in poultry [7].2.3. Urine- or Seminal-Fluid-Specific Expression Systems.Urine is an abundant biological fluid already used to prepareproteins such as gonadotropins for pharmaceutical use. Ifit happens that a foreign protein is matured in a moreappropriate manner in the urothelium than in the mammarygland, or if the resulting side effects of the protein areless deleterious for the animals, a system using expressionin the urothelium may be useful [26]. Work has indicatedthat expression of the human growth hormone gene drivenby the mouse uroplakin II gene promoter was expressedspecifically in the urothelium, and up to 100–500 ng/mL ofhuman growth hormone was found in the resulting urine[27]. Other work has also been explored [28,29].Comparedwith milk, one advantage of using the bladder as a bioreactoris that animals can urinate earlier than they can lactate. Thelimiting factor for bladder production of proteins has beenyield. Although the bladder epithelium does secrete proteins,the rates are minimal, and thus protein production rates withthis system are extremely low.The seminal fluid of the male ejaculate has also beenconsidered as a site for recombinant protein secretion intransgenic animals [30]. Seminal fluid is a relatively abundantbiological fluid in some species and it can be easily collected.This is the case for pig. The boar’s male accessory sex glandspossess many characteristics that make them appropriate forthe production of recombinant proteins. Pig semen contains30 mg of protein per mL and boars can produce 200–300 mLof semen for a total of 6–9 g of protein per ejaculate [7]. Thecollection and handling of boar semen is a well-establishedprocess, performed on a large scale at swine artificial insemi-nation units worldwide. Also of interest is the fact that proteinsecretion by these tissues is uniquely exocrine, minimizingthe risk of a biologically active recombinant protein upsettingthe host’s own physiology. The limitation of this system isthat we do not know how complex proteins are matured andsecreted in semen [26].2.4. Silkworm Cocoon, a Good Candidate.The silkwormhas acquired the ability to synthesize bulk amounts of silkproteins in its silk glands. To utilize this capacity for massproduction of useful proteins, transgenic silkworms havebeen generated that synthesize recombinant proteins in thesilk gland and secrete them into the silk cocoon; manyrecombinant proteins have been produced using this system,particularly over the last decade [31–33]. The transgenicsilkworm is not only suitable for the production of geneticallymodified scaffolds for fibrous proteins such as collagens,elastin, and silk which can be used to produce fabrics andbiomaterials for medical purposes, but also suitable for theproduction of recombinant proteins that can be used forpharmaceutical purposes. More specifically can yield up to4 mg of recombinant protein per silkworm. This yield isquite high compared with other systems, and productionusing transgenic silkworms is much cheaper and faster thanproduction using transgenic livestock [34]. The advantages oftransgenic silkworms are convenience and cost effectivenesswith increased product yields in most cases ranging from20- to 10 000-fold compared with laboratory methods. Thedisadvantages are that it is costly and time consuming tomaintain nondiapause transgenic silkworms and that the useof denaturing chemicals to extract the recombinant proteins4may result in extracted proteins that cannot retain theiroriginal structures.2.5. Others.Fish may present other specific, unique, andunexplored opportunities for use of transgenic animals asbioreactors for production of important proteins. Some bio-pharmaceutical companies have ongoing projects to expressfactor VII, insulin, collagen, human calcitonin, pleurocidin,and human defensins in mucus produced by tilapia andsalmon [35]. However, at present, we have little knowledgeabout transgenic fish bioreactors.The use of transgenic plants to produce novel productshas great biotechnological potential, as they are relativelyinexpensive, safe sources for potentially valuable bioactivemetabolites, diagnostic proteins, and vaccines [4–6]. Forexample, nicotiana hybrids provide an advantageous pro-duction platform for partially purified, plant-made vaccinesthat may be particularly well suited for use in veterinaryimmunization programs [36]. Transgenic plants are superiorin terms of storage and distribution issues.BioMed Research Internationalexpressed in mice and goats and for heterotrimeric fibrinogenproduced in sheep.Proteins that require posttranslational modification (e.g.,glycosylation) have been expressed successfully, includinganti-thrombin-III in goats [68] and extracellular superoxidedismutase, a complex N-glycosylated homotetramer thatcarries copper and zinc atoms and is sensitive to proteolysis,produced in physiologically active form in transgenic rabbits[47]. In recent years, several bioactive proteins have beenexpressed successfully in different animal mammary glands[69], such as lactoferrin [70,71],human parathyroid hor-mone [72],����-fetoprotein[73], lysozyme [74], and butyryl-cholinesterase [75].ATryn, produced by GTC Biotherapeutics, is made fromthe milk of transgenic goats that produce human antithrom-bin, a plasma protein with anticoagulant properties [76].Early in 2006, the European Medicines Agency approvedATryn for use in European Union countries; the drug wasalso approved by the FDA in 2009 for treatment of patientswith hereditary antithrombin deficiency. It was stated thatone transgenic goat could produce the same amount ofantithrombin in a year as 90.000 blood donations [77]. ATrynis the first medicine produced using transgenic animals. Itsvalue is in the proof and acceptance of an intransgenic-animalplatform to produce therapeutic proteins. Undoubtedly, anincreasing number of drugs produced by transgenic animalmammary glands will be approved in the near future.3. Recent Successes: Different Animals Used asMammary Gland BioreactorsAs what we discussed in Section2.1,transgenic animalmammary glands are the best available bioreactors. They canexpress a variety of interesting recombinant proteins—largeand small, simple and complex—with high efficiency and fullbioactivity and have been extensively and successfully used indifferent animals.Transgenic mice may only serve as a predictive modelto evaluate the usefulness of expression constructs and tostudy the properties of expressed proteins. However, theyare not at present useful as bioreactors for producing thelarge quantities of recombinant proteins that can satisfycommercial demands.The largest and most complex protein successfully pro-duced to date is the human clotting protein factor VIII,a large heterodimer that was correctly processed into abioactive protein in pigs [67]. The gene contains 26 exonsand the cDNA alone is 7.6 kb long. At the other extreme,small peptides are unstable in biological systems, but theycan be expressed in transgenic animals if fused to carrierproteins. For example, the salmon calcitonin peptide wasfused to a small milk protein (human a-lactalbumin) and suc-cessfully expressed and amidated in rabbits [61]. Calcitoninwas cleaved from the fusion precursor in vitro during thepurification process to yield a peptide with potent bioactivityin vivo. This is one approach to expressing physiologicallyactive polypeptides without compromising the physiology orhealth of the transgenic production animal. Even multimericproteins have been expressed and assembled in vivo by thecoinjection of separate transgene constructs containing theindividual protein chains. Correct assembly into bioactiveproteins requires coexpression of the individual proteins atthe same time in the same cell with the correct stoichiometry.This has been accomplished in vivo for heterodimeric mAbs4. Rabbits versus Livestock: Bigger Is NotAlways BetterSeveral animal species have been successfully used as trans-genic bioreactors. However, the criteria for selecting the mostsuitable animal species for molecular pharming are basedon the quantity of proteins needed per year, the capacityof a facility, and the potential commercial value of therecombinant proteins in addition to other factors such astime until milk production and milk volume. The featuresof milk secretion in livestock are summarized in Table4.Asimplified rule for choosing transgenic bioreactors is that theproduction of a protein (such as albumin) in tons should becarried out using transgenic cows, in hundreds of kilogramsusing sheep or goats, and in kilograms per year using rabbits[78]. For example, in goats, a lactating female can produce upto 600–800 L of milk per year that can contain approximately5 g/L recombinant protein to yield approximately 4 kg ofprotein per year.In comparison with other large domestic livestock spe-cies, the rabbit is a relatively small animal with a shortgestation time, sexual maturity period (only four months forfemales and five months for males) (Table5),and optimalsize. Handling in reproduction favors the application oftransgenic technology in rabbits; gene transfer into rabbitsis an attractive technique for improving their performance,and applications have been developed that use rabbits as fastbioreactors for the production of therapeutic proteins usedin biomedical research [78]. Rabbits are efficient breedersand will produce milk containing a desired protein within 8months after the start of a project (Table4).BioMed Research InternationalTable 4: Comparison of transgenic milk expression systems in different species.SpeciesMouseRabbitPigSheepGoatCowGestation (months)0.7514559Maturation (months)15-67-86–86–815Milk yield per lactation (L)0.00151–1.5200–400200–400600–8006000–80005Elapsed months frommicroinjection to milk3–67-815-1616–1816–1830–33Table 5: Reproductive performance of rabbits.Reproductive parameterSexual maturityConception rateGestation timeLitter sizeLactation periodLitter intervalLitters per yearValue4-5 months65%30–33 days5–1240–50 days44 days4–7Rabbit milk naturally contains 2.5-fold as much protein assheep milk and 4.8-fold that of goat milk. A lactating femalerabbit can produce 170–220 g of milk per day and yield up to10 kg of milk per year under semiautomatic hygienic milkingconditions [79]. Expression levels of transgenic protein canbe as high as 20 grams per liter. For small- and medium-sizedfacilities, the rabbit system is ideal to produce up to 50 kg ofprotein per year. Thus, the transgenic rabbit system is a lowercost alternative primarily because rabbits are smaller and lessexpensive to maintain than livestock.Specific pathogen-free rabbits are available and free ofinfectious agents. Although for conventional rabbits thereare no known prion diseases (similar to scrapie of thesheep, human Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and kuru, bovinespongiform encephalopathy of the bovines) [80], humanscan be infected with avian influenza, a virus from poultry[81], though rabbit. There has been no known serious diseasetransmission to humans from the rabbit, which makes therabbit safer than other dairy livestock and poultry. Therefore,the system of transgenic rabbits is safe to produce therapeuticproteins.5. Transgenic Rabbit MammaryGland BioreactorConsidering both economical and hygienic aspects, rabbitsare attractive for the mammary-gland-specific expressionof recombinant proteins. Using an appropriate promoter, anumber of recombinant proteins have been produced fromrabbit milk, including hormones, bioactive peptides, andtherapeutic proteins. Recombinant human proteins producedby transgenic rabbits include����-AT[17], interleukin-2 [51],tissue plasminogen activator [57], erythropoietin [42–46],insulin-like growth factor-1 [52–54], extracellular superoxidedismutase [47], growth hormone [48–50],����-glucosidase[37,38],salmon calcitonin [61], equine chorionic gonadotropin[60], nerve growth factor-���½ [55,56],chymosin [58], C1inhibitor [39], clotting factor VIII [40,41],tissue nonspecificalkaline phosphatase [63], bovine follicle-stimulating hor-mone [59], protein C [62], lactoferrin [64], interferon beta[65], and antithrombin [66], as summarized in Table6.One of the best examples of recombinant proteinsreported from rabbit milk is human����-glucosidase,which wasthe first transgenic product from rabbit milk used to treatPompe’s disease (also called glycogen storage disorder typeII) [37,82, 83].Pompe’s disease is a fatal muscular disordercaused by lysosomal����-glucosidasedeficiency; patients withthis disease have a rapidly fatal or slowly progressive impair-ment of muscle functions due to concomitant storage oflysosomal glycogen in the muscles and massive cardiomegaly.In 1998, a group of scientists in The Netherlands generatedtransgenic rabbits using a fusion between the human acid����-glucosidasegene in its genomic context and the bovine����-S1-caseinpromoter. This protein isolated from transgenicrabbit milk was shown to exert therapeutic effects in thetreatment of mice with glycogen storage deficiency andlater in the treatment of human����-glucosidasedeficiency[37]. Subsequently, they administered recombinant human����-glucosidasefrom rabbit milk to four human babies whowere genetically deficient in����-glucosidase,at starting dosesof 15 or 20 mg/kg and later at 40 mg/kg. The activity ofhuman����-glucosidasewas shown to be normalized in themuscles of these patients, and their tissue morphology andmotor and cardiac functions were dramatically improved[82]. That successful study provided convincing evidence thatthe milk of transgenic rabbits is a safe source of therapeuticproteins and has opened the way for further exploration ofthis production method.It must be admitted that not all transgenic rabbit bioreac-tors or the recombinant proteins they produce are functionalor practical due to low levels of expression; however, thesestudies have opened the door for possible technical advancesthat will permit the production of large quantities of humantherapeutic proteins and their use in the future.6. ConclusionsThe various mammals used as bioreactors are rabbits, pigs,sheep, goats, and cows. Each of these species offers advantagesand drawbacks. Rabbits are sufficient to produce several
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