Protein expression systems are widely used in biotechnology and medicine for the efficient and economic production of therapeutic proteins. Today, cultivated Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the market dominating mammalian cell-line for the production of complex therapeutic proteins. Despite this outstanding potential of CHO cells, no high-yield cell-free system based on translationally active lysates from these cells has been reported so far. To date, CHO cell extracts have only been used as a foundational research tool for understanding mRNA translation (Lodish et al., 1974;McDowell et al., 1972). In the present study, we address this fact by establishing a novel cell-free protein expression system based on extracts from cultured CHO cells. Lysate preparation, adaptation of in vitro reaction conditions and the construction of particular expression vectors are considered for high-yield protein production. A specific in vitro expression vector, which includes an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) from the intergenic region (IGR) of the Cricket paralysis virus (CrPV), has been constructed in order to obtain optimal performance. The IGR IRES is supposed to bind directly to the eukaryotic 40S ribosomal subunit thereby bypassing the process of translation initiation, which is often a major bottleneck in cell-free systems. The combination of expression vector and optimized CHO cell extracts enables the production of approximately 50 mg/mL active firefly luciferase within 4 h. The batch-type cell-free coupled transcription-translation system has the potential to perform post-translational modifications, as shown by the glycosylation of erythropoietin. Accordingly, the system contains translocationally active endogenous microsomes, enabling the co-translational incorporation of membrane proteins into biological membranes. Hence, the presented in vitro translation system is a powerful tool for the fast and convenient optimization of expression constructs, the specific labeling of integral membrane proteins and the cell-free production of posttranslationally modified proteins.

Internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements found in the 5′ untranslated region of mRNAs enable translation initiation in a cap-independent manner, thereby representing an alternative to cap-dependent translation in cell-free protein expression systems. However, IRES function is largely species-dependent so their utility in cell-free systems from different species is rather limited. A promising approach to overcome these limitations would be the use of IRESs that are able to recruit components of the translation initiation apparatus from diverse origins. Here, we present a solution to this technical problem and describe the ability of a number of viral IRESs to direct efficient protein expression in different eukaryotic cell-free expression systems. The IRES from the intergenic region (IGR) of the Cricket paralysis virus (CrPV) genome was shown to function efficiently in four different cell-free systems based on lysates derived from cultured Sf21, CHO and K562 cells as well as wheat germ. Our results suggest that the CrPV IGR IRES-based expression vector is universally applicable for a broad range of eukaryotic cell lysates. Sf21, CHO and K562 cell-free expression systems are particularly promising platforms for the production of glycoproteins and membrane proteins since they contain endogenous microsomes that facilitate the incorporation of membrane-spanning proteins and the formation of post-translational modifications. We demonstrate the use of the CrPV IGR IRES-based expression vector for the enhanced synthesis of various target proteins including the glycoprotein erythropoietin and the membrane proteins heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor receptor as well as epidermal growth factor receptor in the above mentioned eukaryotic cell-free systems. CrPV IGR IRES-mediated translation will facilitate the development of novel eukaryotic cell-free expression platforms as well as the high-yield synthesis of desired proteins in already established systems.

Edited by Wilhelm JustKeywords: Non-standard amino acids Cotranslational incorporation Cell-free protein synthesis Eukaryotic systems a b s t r a c t Over the last years protein engineering using non-standard amino acids has gained increasing attention. As a result, improved methods are now available, enabling the efficient and directed cotranslational incorporation of various non-standard amino acids to equip proteins with desired characteristics. In this context, the utilization of cell-free protein synthesis is particularly useful due to the direct accessibility of the translational machinery and synthesized proteins without having to maintain a vital cellular host. We review prominent methods for the incorporation of non-standard amino acids into proteins using cell-free protein synthesis. Furthermore, a list of non-standard amino acids that have been successfully incorporated into proteins in cell-free systems together with selected applications is provided.

Halogenated homo- and heterocyclic aromatics including disinfectants, pesticides and pharmaceuticals raise concern as persistent and toxic contaminants with often unknown fate. Remediation strategies and natural attenuation in anaerobic environments often build on microbial reductive dehalogenation. Here we describe the transformation of halogenated anilines, benzonitriles, phenols, methoxylated, or hydroxylated benzoic acids, pyridines, thiophenes, furoic acids, and benzenes by Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain CBDB1 and environmental fate modeling of the dehalogenation pathways. The compounds were chosen based on structural considerations to investigate the influence of functional groups present in a multitude of commercially used halogenated aromatics. Experimentally obtained growth yields were 0.1 to 5 × 10(14) cells mol(-1) of halogen released (corresponding to 0.3-15.3 g protein mol(-1) halogen), and specific enzyme activities ranged from 4.5 to 87.4 nkat mg(-1) protein. Chlorinated electron-poor pyridines were not dechlorinated in contrast to electron-rich thiophenes. Three different partial charge models demonstrated that the regioselective removal of halogens is governed by the least negative partial charge of the halogen. Microbial reaction pathways combined with computational chemistry and pertinent literature findings on Co(I) chemistry suggest that halide expulsion during reductive dehalogenation is initiated through single electron transfer from B12Co(I) to the apical halogen site.

Nowadays, biotechnological processes play a pivotal role in target protein production. In this context, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are one of the most prominent cell lines for the expression of recombinant proteins and revealed as a safe host for nearly 40 years. Nevertheless, the major bottleneck of common in vivo protein expression platforms becomes obvious when looking at the production of so called “difficult-to-express” proteins. This class of proteins comprises in particular several ion channels and multipass membrane proteins as well as cytotoxic proteins. To enhance the production of “difficult-to-express” proteins, alternative technologies were developed, mainly based on translationally active cell lysates. These so called “cell-free” protein synthesis systems enable an efficient production of different classes of proteins. Eukaryotic cell-free systems harboring endogenous microsomal structures for the synthesis of functional membrane proteins and posttranslationally modified proteins are of particular interest for future applications. Therefore, we present current developments in cell-free protein synthesis based on translationally active CHO cell extracts, underlining the high potential of this platform. We present novel results highlighting the optimization of protein yields, the synthesis of various “difficult-to-express” proteins and the cotranslational incorporation of non-standard amino acids, which was exemplarily demonstrated by residue specific labeling of the glycoprotein Erythropoietin and the multimeric membrane protein KCSA.