Production of coagulation factor VII in human cell lines Sk-Hep-1 and HKB-11

- The use of human cell lines for recombinant factor VII production is reported.
- Sk-Hep-1 and HKB-11 cells are capable to produce high-level of recombinant factor VII.
- Human cells using lentiviral vector containing FVII secrete 2.6-5-fold more protein than BHK-21 cell line.
- Sk-Hep-1 and HKB-11 cells can be used as a new platform for the production of recombinant proteins.

Recombinant factor VII (rFVII) is the main therapeutic choice for hemophilia patients who have developed inhibitory antibodies against conventional treatments (FVIII and FIX). Because of the post-translational modifications, rFVII needs to be produced in mammalian cell lines. In this study, for the first time, we have shown efficient rFVII production in HepG2, Sk-Hep-1, and HKB-11 cell lines. Experiments in static conditions for a period of 96 h showed that HepG2-FVII produced the highest amounts of rhFVII, with an average of 1843 ng/mL. Sk-hep-1-FVII cells reached a maximum protein production of 1432 ng/mL and HKB-11-FVII cells reached 1468 ng/mL. Sk-Hep-1-rFVII and HKB-11-rFVII were selected for the first step of scale-up. Over 10 days of spinner flask culture, HKB-11 and SK-Hep-1 cells showed a cumulative production of rFVII of 152 μg and 202.6 μg in 50 mL, respectively. Thus, these human cell lines can be used for an efficient production of recombinant FVII. With more investment in basic research, human cell lines can be optimized for the commercial production of different bio therapeutic proteins.