In one aspect, the present invention jointly expresses SOD and NAMPT proteins. The activity of SOD and NAMPT expressed by silkworm pupae inoculated with viruses is higher than that of silkworm pupae that are not inoculated with viruses, which proves that it is feasible to jointly express SOD and NAMPT with silkworms. It is expected to prepare an effective anti-aging drug.

The present disclosure includes refactored thaxtomin biosynthetic gene clusters including thaxtomin modules including one or more thaxtomin genes such that the expression of the refactored thaxtomin biosynthetic gene cluster produces at least one thaxtomin compound in the absence of thaxtomin-inducing conditions. Also included are genetically engineered Streptomyces bacterium from a non-pathogenic Streptomyces strain comprising an exogenous, refactored thaxtomin biosynthetic gene cluster of the present disclosure, such that the expression of the refactored thaxtomin biosynthetic gene cluster provides the genetically engineered Streptomyces bacterium with the ability to produce at least one thaxtomin compound in the absence of thaxtomin-inducing conditions. The present disclosure also includes methods of producing thaxtomin compounds, analogs, or intermediate with the refactored thaxtomin biosynthetic gene clusters and genetically engineered bacteria of the present disclosure.

The present application pertains inter alia to an isolated vertebrate cell suitable for recombinant expression of a polypeptide of interest, wherein the vertebrate cell is altered to impair the function of the endogenous protease matriptase and wherein the cell comprises at least one heterologous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of interest and wherein the polypeptide of interest is secreted by the cell. It was found that using respective vertebrate cells for producing a recombinant polypeptide of interest significantly reduces clipping of the polypeptide of interest that is secreted into the cell culture medium. Also provided are improved production and screening methods.

The present invention relates to a method for increasing the galactose content of a recombinant protein produced in mammalian cells, wherein during the cultivation of said cells the pH of the cell culture is changed and a composition comprising nucleosides, transition metal salts and/or sugars is fed.

Provided is a nucleic acid construct for expressing a gene of interest, the nucleic acid construct comprising, in order from 5′-terminus, each sequence of: (a) a 5′ long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence derived from a retrovirus; (b) a packaging signal sequence (IV) derived from a retrovirus; (c) a sequence or multiple cloning site of the gene of interest; (d) a post-transcriptional regulatory sequence (PRE); (e) an siRNA generating sequence which forms at least one stem-loop structure and in which RNA, which induces RNA interference in mammalian cells, is transcribed; and (f) a 3′ LTR sequence derived form a retrovirus.

The present disclosure relates to methods of preparing cell-based products for human consumption, in particular, from populations of such cell types as hepatocytes, adipocytes, myoblasts, and/or fibroblasts.

The present invention provides compositions comprising a Fc-containing protein wherein substantially all the Fc domains have a C-terminal lysine. Further provided are host cell for producing said compositions, methods of making said host cells and compositions, and method of use thereof.

Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for generating pacemaker cells from non-pacemaker cardiomyocytes. For example, the method includes the step of culturing the non-pacemaker cardiomyocytes with silk fibroin so that the silk fibroin induces the transformation of at least a portion thereof into pacemaker cells.

High-yield mammalian transient expression systems can include a cell culture media (particularly serum free, non-animal derived, and/or chemically defined media) for introducing macromolecules and compounds (e.g., nucleic acid molecules) into cells (e.g., eukaryotic cells). Cells containing such introduced materials can then be cultured in the cell culture media. In particular, the invention allows introduction of nucleic acid molecules (e.g., vectors) into cells (particularly mammalian cells) and expression of proteins encoded by the nucleic acid molecules in the cells. The invention obviates the need to change the cell culture medium each time a different procedure is performed with the cells (e.g., culturing cells vs. transfecting cells). The invention also relates to compositions and kits useful for culturing and transforming/transfecting cells.

A non-naturally occurring cell comprising an inoperative genomic asparaginase (Aspg) gene and an inoperative glutamine synthetase (Gs) gene, wherein the cell has been transfected with a controllably expressed gene encoding an enzyme having asparaginase activity, a controllably expressed gene encoding an enzyme having glutamine synthetase activity, and a controllably expressed gene encoding a heterologous protein of interest.