Enhanced Production of Human Serum Albumin by Fed-Batch Culture of Hansenula polymorpha with High-Purity Oxygen

Fed-batch cultures of Hansenula polymorpha were studied to develop an efficient biosystem to produce recombinant human serum albumin (HSA). To comply with this purpose, we used a high-purity oxygen-supplying strategy to increase the viable cell density in a bioreactor and enhance the production of target protein. A mutant strain, H. polymorpha GOT7, was utilized in this study as a host strain in both 5-l and 30-l scale fermentors. To supply high-purity oxygen into a bioreactor, nearly 100% high-purity oxygen from a commercial bomb or higher than 93% oxygen available in situ from a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generator was employed. Under the optimal fermentation of H. polymorpha with high-purity oxygen, the final cell densities and produced HSA concentrations were 24.6 g/l and 5.1 g/l in the 5-l fermentor, and 24.8 g/l and 4.5 g/l in the 30-l fermentor, respectively. These were about 2-10 times higher than those obtained in air-based fed-batch fermentations. The discrepancies between the 5-l and 30-l fermentors with air supply were presumably due to the higher contribution of surface aeration over submerged aeration in the 5-l fermentor. This study, therefore, proved the positive effect of high-purity oxygen in enhancing viable cell density as well as target recombinant protein production in microbial fermentations.