Production of Antibodies with Baker S Yeast

School of Chemical Technology

1 (2) http://chem.aalto.fi/ Tel. +358 50 577 3736, Sirje Liukko

Dissertation press release x.x.2016

Production of antibodies with baker’s yeast

Title of the dissertation Development of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an antibody factory

Contents of the dissertation Antibodies are an important part of the human immune system, as they protect the host organism from outside threats by binding to them and thus contributing to their destruction. It is this strong and specific binding properties that make antibodies very important for use in human diagnostics and therapeutic applications, for example for the detection and marking of tumors. Additionally, antibodies are also used in a wide range of applications in science and biomedical research.

Currently, the industry is mostly producing antibodies using mammalian cell based systems. However, these systems can be difficult and expensive to establish and maintain, so there is extensive research towards the development of new production platforms. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a potential candidate for this, due to its status as a safe organism for biotechnological applications and through the extensive knowledge provided by decades of research.

In this thesis, steps were made to develop S. cerevisiae into a more suitable organism for the production of full-length IgG antibodies. Through modifications of the protein folding and secretory pathway, a yeast strain was created that had an over 10-fold increased antibody production. Furthermore, a randomized high- throughput method was developed and proven to be successful for the screening of new factors that influence the production of antibodies in yeast. In addition, it was measured that the production of antibodies induced extensive changes in the levels of various metabolites inside the yeast cells. In conclusion, the potential of S. cerevisiae to become a relevant antibody production organism was increased by this work.

Field of the dissertation Molecular Biotechnology

Doctoral candidate Jorg de Ruijter, M.Sc.

Time of the defence 27 January 2017 at 12 noon

Place of the defence Aalto University School of Chemical Technology, Lecture hall KE1 (Kemistintie 1, Espoo, Finland)

Opponent Professor Lloyd Ruddock, University of Oulu, Finland

A doctoral dissertation is a public document and shall be available at Aalto University School of Chemical Technology notice board (Kemistintie 1, Espoo, PL 16100, 00076 Aalto). School of Chemical Technology

2 (2) http://chem.aalto.fi/ Tel. +358 50 577 3736, Sirje Liukko

Supervisor Professor Alexander Frey, Aalto University School of Chemical Technology, Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology

Web address of the https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/51 dissertation

Doctoral candidate’s Jorg de Ruijter, M.Sc. contact information +44 7917 295897 jorg.deruijter @aalto.fi

A doctoral dissertation is a public document and shall be available at Aalto University School of Chemical Technology notice board (Kemistintie 1, Espoo, PL 16100, 00076 Aalto).