Edward B. Cambareri, Neugenesis Corporation, 849 Mitten Rd Suite 102, Burlingame, CA 94010
Neugenesis Corporation is using a bank of strains generated by the Neurospora Genomics Project, with knock-outs in individual open reading frames, to develop improved strains for production of biopharmaceutical proteins. Many monoclonal antibodies and glycoprotein antigens or antigen variants can be expressed and secreted from Neurospora, but at relatively low levels, and these proteins are often secreted as fragments due to proteolytic activity.. New production strains have been generated using KOs generated by the NGP, as well as using classical mutants from the Fungal Genetics Stock Center. Titers and quality of secreted antibody and Influenza antigens have been compared in various production strains. Data will be presented demonstrating dramatic differences in both titer and quality of secreted proteins in these new strains of Neurospora.