Cellular engineering for therapeutic protein production: product quality, host modification, and process improvement

Recombinant proteins offer many therapeutic advantages unavailable in traditional small molecule drugs, but the need for cellular versus chemical synthesis complicates production. Avenues for producing therapeutic biologics are continuously expanding, and developments in biochemistry, cell biology, and bioengineering fuel new discoveries that promise safer, more efficient, and cheaper drugs for consumers. Numerous approaches to express recombinant proteins exist, but Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and mammalian systems (e.g. Chinese hamster ovary cells, CHO) are the most widely utilized. Improvements to production in these hosts have focused on novel expression cassettes, cell line modifications, engineering secretion pathways, and media design. Here, we describe recent developments for improving protein production in E. coli, S. cerevisiae, and CHO systems and compare recent advancements to previous knowledge in the field. With the expanding importance and prevalence of protein therapeutics, these improvements will serve as the framework for future discoveries.