Controlling the process of CHO cell fed-batch culture is critical for
biologics quality control. However, the biological complexity of cells
has hampered the reliable process understanding for industrial
manufacturing. In this study, a workflow was developed for the
consistency monitoring and biochemical marker identification of the
commercial-scale CHO cell culture process through H
NMR assisted with multivariate data analysis (MVDA). Firstly, a total of
63 metabolites were identified in this study object in
H NMR spectra of the CHO cell-free supernatants.
Secondly, multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) charts were
used to evaluate process consistency. According to MSPC charts, the
batch-to-batch quality consistency was high, indicating the CHO cell
culture process at the commercial scale was well-controlled. Then, the
biochemical marker identification in the cell logarithmic expansion,
stable growth, and decline phases were provided through orthogonal
partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) based S-line plots.
L-glutamine, pyroglutamic acid, 4-hydroxyproline, choline, glucose,
lactate, alanine, and proline were determined as biochemical markers of
the logarithmic growth phase. Isoleucine, leucine, valine, acetate, and
alanine were determined as biochemical markers of the stable growth
phase. Acetate, glycine, glycerin, and gluconic acid were identified as
biochemical markers of the cell decline phase. The workflow proposed in
this study demonstrates that the combination of MVDA tools and
H NMR technology is highly appealing to the research
of the biomanufacturing process, and applies well to provide critical
guidance in future work on consistency evaluation and biochemical marker
monitoring of the production of other biologics.