Effects of growth regulators and organic nitrogen sources on the production of heavy chain immunoglobulin G in suspension cultures of transgenic tobacco cells

To enhance the production of heavy chain immunoglobulin G (HC IgG) in the suspension cultures of transgenic tobacco cells (Nicotiana tabacum), the effects of adding various cytokinins (i.e., growth regulators) and organic nitrogen sources to culture media were investigated. Four different cytokinins including kinetin, isopentenyladenine (IPA), 6-benzylaminepurine (BA), and zeatin were tested with or without dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), which is a typical growth regulator supplemented in the standard Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. The productivity of intracellular HC IgG was increased by 36 and 42%, compared to the control, especially when IPA (2 mg/l) or BA (0.2 mg/l) was added to the media in the presence of 2,4-D, respectively. In the study of organic nitrogen sources, addition of each casein hydrolysate and tryptone to the culture media at a final concentration of 0.01 and 1 g/l, respectively, increased the productivity of HC IgG as much as 68 and 67%, respectively, in comparison with the control, which was is MS medium without supplementation of any organic nitrogen sources. This study shows that the optimization of media composition could offer significant improvements in the production of foreign proteins in the suspension cultures of transgenic plants.