Does a Polycistronic 2A Design Enable Functional FcRn Production for Antibody Pharmacokinetic Studies?

Background/Objectives: The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is a heterodimeric protein composed of a heavy α-chain with an MHC class I-like fold and β₂-microglobulin. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis and pharmacokinetics of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and albumin through pH-dependent recycling. The production of soluble recombinant FcRn is technically challenging due to its heterodimeric structure and the presence of a transmembrane domain. This study aimed to develop a polycistronic construct enabling the co-expression of FcRn subunits from a single transcript and to evaluate the functional activity of the resulting protein in CHO-K1 cells. Methods: Integration vectors (pComV-FcRn-B2M) were designed to encode FcRn and β₂-microglobulin linked via self-cleaving 2A peptides (P2A, E2A, F2A, T2A). Stable producer cell lines were generated using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system. The purified proteins were characterized by SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Functional activity was assessed by ELISA and bio-layer interferometry (BLI). Results: Electrophoretic and chromatographic analyses confirmed the expected subunit composition and demonstrated that over 95% of the recombinant protein was monomeric. Functional assays revealed pH-dependent IgG binding, with strong interaction at pH 6.0 and negligible binding at pH 7.5. BLI measurements showed high affinity consistent with native FcRn function (KD = 3.15 nM at pH 6.0). Conclusions: The developed polycistronic construct containing a P2A peptide with a GSG linker enabled efficient production of functional FcRn in CHO-K1 cells (yield up to 2.23 mg/mL). The P2A variant demonstrated the highest efficiency and can serve as a reference system for screening Fc-engineered antibodies with optimized pharmacokinetic properties.