Bioproduced Proteins On Demand (Bio-POD) in hydrogels using <i>Pichia pastoris</i>.

Yuan, Shuo-Fu; Brooks, Sierra M; Nguyen, Annalee W; Lin, Wen-Ling; Johnston, Trevor G; Maynard, Jennifer A; Nelson, Alshakim; Alper, Hal S · Bioact Mater · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Traditional production of industrial and therapeutic proteins by eukaryotic cells typically requires large-scale fermentation capacity. As a result, these systems are not easily portable or reusable for on-demand protein production applications. In this study, we employ Bioproduced Proteins On Demand (Bio-POD), a F127-bisurethane methacrylate hydrogel-based technique that immobilizes engineered <i>Pichia pastoris</i> for preservable, on-demand production and secretion of medium- and high-molecular weight proteins (in this case, SEAP, α-amylase, and anti-HER2). The gel samples containing encapsulated-yeast demonstrated sustained protein production and exhibited productivity immediately after lyophilization and rehydration. The hydrogel platform described here is the first hydrogel immobilization using a <i>P. pastoris</i> system to produce recombinant proteins of this breadth. These results highlight the potential of this formulation to establish a cost-effective bioprocessing strategy for on-demand protein production.