Large-scale production of high-quality helper-dependent adenoviral vectors using adherent cells in cell factories

The most efficient and widely used system for generating helper-dependent adenoviral vectors (HDAds) is the Cre/loxP system developed by Graham and co-workers (Parks, R.J., Chen, L., Anton, M., Sankar, U., Rudnicki, M.A., and Graham, F.L. [ 1996 ]. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 13565-13570). Alternative systems have been developed for HDAd production, but all are limited by the technical complexity of a three-component vector production system for reproducibly generating large quantities of adenovirus with high infectivity and low helper virus (HV) contamination. Recently, these problems were addressed by Ng and co-workers (Palmer, D., and Ng, P. [ 2003 ]. Mol Ther. 8, 846-852), who developed an improved system that combines the use of a suspension-adapted producer cell line expressing high levels of Cre recombinase, a HV resistant to mutation, and a refined purification protocol. With this system, >1 x 10(13) highly infectious vector particles are easily produced without vector genome rearrangements and having very low HV contamination levels. However, the Ng system incorporates a spinner flask culture system that involves considerable time, effort, and tissue culture medium to produce HDAds. We have an alternative system to obtain comparable quantities with equivalent quality to the spinner flask approach but requiring reduced labor and lower volumes of medium. This method utilizes a 10-chamber cell factory with adherent cells to produce high infectivity of HDAds with minimal HV contamination while improving yield and reducing technical complexity, effort, and medium requirements. This system is easily translatable to the production of clinical-grade HDAds for human trials.