Gene Amplification and High-Level Expression of Human Pro-Urokinase cDNA in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

Human Pro-Urokinase (Pro-UK) is expressed in CHO-DHFR- cells at high efficiency by co-transfecting the mouse dhfr gene and Pro-UK cDNA under the control of the SV40 late promoter. After gene co-amplification, the product level could reach 2-3 μg/106 cells/24 h in the presence of 5×10-6 mol/ L MTX, and the levels can be further raised to 3. 5-4 μg/106 cells/24 h by PMA superinduction. The copy number of Pro-UK cDNA in the genomes of host cells is about 200-300 copies/cell. The Western blot analysis shows that the recombinant Pro-UK has similar molecular weight to its natural counterpart, and also the amidolytic activity of the product is determined by S-2444 assay.