Claims for Patent: 7,888,489

Summary for Patent: 7,888,489

Title:	Method for producing a compound of interest in a filamentous fungal cell
Abstract:	The invention relates to a nucleotide sequence comprising; a synonymous nucleotide coding sequence with optimized codon frequency such that a native codon has been exchanged with a synonymous codon, the synonymous codon encoding the same amino acid as the native codon and having a higher frequency in codon usage as defined in Table 1 than the native codon; and optionally the nucleotide sequence comprises control sequences such as; one translational termination sequence orientated in 5\' towards 3\' direction selected from the following list of sequences; TAAG, TAGA and TAAA, preferably TAAA, and/or one translational initiator coding sequence orientated in 5\' towards 3\' direction selected from the following list of sequences; gctnccyyc (SEQ ID NO:20), using ambiguity codes for nucleotides; v (A/C/G); n (A/C/G/T), preferably 5\'-GCT TCC TTC-3\' (SEQ ID NO:21). The invention further relates to a consensus translational initiator sequence; 5\'-mwChkyCAmv-3\' (SEQ ID NO:16), preferably the translational initiator sequence is selected from the list consisting of; 5\'-mwChkyCAAA-3\' (SEQ ID NO:17), 5\'-mwChkyCACA-3\' (SEQ ID NO:18), and 5\'-mwChkyCAAG-3\' (SEQ ID NO:19).
Inventor(s):	Roubos; Johannes Andries (Pijnacker, NL), Donkers; Serge Petrus (Hellevoetsluis, NL), Stam; Hein (Huizen, NL), Peij; Noel Nicolaas Maria Elisabeth Van (Delft, NL)
Assignee:	DSM IP Assets B.V. (Heerlen, NL)
Application Number:	11/795,824
Patent Claims:	1. A nucleotide sequence comprising: a synonymous nucleotide coding sequence with optimized codon frequency such that a native codon has been exchanged with a synonymous codon, said synonymous codon encoding the same amino acid as the native codon and having a higher frequency in codon usage as defined in Table 1 than the native codon; wherein the optimized codon frequency is such that at least 10% of the native codons have been exchanged with a synonymous codon, the synonymous codon changing the codon frequency such that the value of the absolute difference between the percentage for said synonymous codon in said frequency and the listed optimal percentage becomes smaller after modification, applying the following list of optimal percentages; cysteine by TGC (100%); phenylalanine by TTC (100%); histidine by CAC (100%); lysine by AAG (100%); asparagine by AAC (100%); glutamine by CAG (100%); tyrosine by TAC (100%); alanine is encoded by GCT (38%) GCC (51%), or GCG (11%); aspartate by GAC (64%); glutamate by GAG (74%); glycine by GGT (49%), GGC (35%), GGA (16%); isoleucine by ATT (27%), ATC (73%); leucine by TTG (13%), CTT (17%), CTC (38%), CTG (32%); proline by CCT (36%), CCC (64%); arginine by CGT (49%), CGC (51%); serine by TCT (21%), TCC (44%), TCG (14%), AGC (21%); threonine by ACT (30%), ACC (70%) and/or valine by GTT (27%), GTC (54%), GTG (19%); and optionally said nucleotide sequence comprises control sequences comprising: one translational termination sequence orientated in 5' towards 3' direction selected from the following list of sequences: TAAG, TAGA and TAAA, and/or one translational initiator coding sequence orientated in 5' towards 3' direction selected from the following list of sequences: GCTACCCCC; GCTACCTCC; GCTACCCTC; GCTACCTTC; GCTCCCCCC; GCTCCCTCC; GCTCCCCTC; GCTCCCTTC; GCTGCCCCC; GCTGCCTCC; GCTGCCCTC; GCTGCCTTC; GCTTCCCCC; GCTTCCTCC; GCTTCCCTC; and GCTTCCTTC (SEQ ID NO:21) TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 1 Optimal filamentous fungal codon frequency for synonymous codons in % .T. .C. .A. .G. T . . Phe Ser Tyr Cys . . T 0 21 0 0 T . . Phe Ser Tyr Cys . . C 100 44 100 100 T . . Leu Ser Stop Stop . . A 0 0 100 0 T . . Leu Ser Stop Trp . . G 13 14 0 100 C . . Leu Pro His Arg . . T 17 36 0 49 C . . Leu Pro His Arg . . C 38 64 100 51 C . . Leu Pro Gln Arg . . A 0 0 0 0 C . . Leu Pro Gln Arg . . G 32 0 100 0 A . . Ile Thr Asn Ser . . T 27 30 0 0 A . . Ile Thr Asn Ser . . C 73 70 100 21 A . . Ile Thr Lys Arg . . A 0 0 0 0 A . . Met Thr Lys Arg . . G 100 0 100 0 G . . Val Ala Asp Gly . . T 27 38 36 49 G . . Val Ala Asp Gly . . C 54 51 64 35 G . . Val Ala Glu Gly . . A 0 0 26 16 G . . Val Ala Glu Gly . . G 19 11 74 0. 2. A nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, wherein the codon fitness of the synonymous nucleotide coding sequence with optimized codon frequency has a fitness value that is at least 70%, where the codon fitness is the calculated by means of the following function: .function..times..times..function..function..function..function. ##EQU00004## where g symbolizes a nucleotide coding sequence, |g| its length, g(k) its k-th codon, r.sub.c.sup.t arg et(c(k)) is a desired ratio of codon c(k) and r.sub.c.sup.g(c(k)) an actual ratio in the nucleotide coding sequence g. 3. A synonymous nucleotide coding sequence with a codon fitness as defined in claim 2, wherein said synonymous nucleotide coding sequence is reverse engineered from an amino acid sequence. 4. A nucleotide sequence comprising a synonymous nucleotide coding sequence according to claim 1, wherein the synonymous nucleotide coding sequence comprises a signal sequence. 5. A nucleotide sequence comprising at least one intron and a synonymous nucleotide coding sequence according to claim 1. 6. A nucleotide sequence, according to claim 1, comprising a translational initiator sequence, said translational initiator sequence comprising the nucleic acid sequence as defined by the consensus translational initiator sequence: 5'-mwChkyCAmv-3' (SEQ ID NO: 16), using ambiguity codes for nucleotides: m (A/C); r (A/G); w (A/T); s (C/G); y (C/T); k (G/T); v (A/C/G); h (A/C/T); d (A/G/T); b (C/G/T); n (A/C/G/T). 7. A nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, comprising a translational initiator sequence, wherein the translational initiator sequence is 5'-CACCGTCAAA-3' (SEQ ID NO: 22) or 5'-CGCAGTCAAG-3' (SEQ ID NO: 23). 8. A nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleotide sequence according to claim 1. 9. A filamentous fungal host cell comprising at least one copy of the nucleic acid construct of claim 8. 10. A filamentous fungal host cell according to claim 9, wherein the coding and/or control sequences present in the nucleic acid construct are native to the host cell before modification of the coding and/or control sequences. 11. A filamentous fungal host cell according to claim 9, wherein the coding and/or control sequences present in the nucleic acid construct are heterologous to the host cell before modification of the coding and/or control sequences. 12. A filamentous fungal host cell according to claim 9 and comprising a given copy number of the nucleic acid construct, wherein the expression of the product encoded by said nucleic acid construct is enhanced as compared to the production of the same product encoded by the corresponding nucleic acid construct comprising the corresponding native nucleotide sequences, said corresponding nucleic acid construct being present in the same copy number in the corresponding filamentous fungal host cell. 13. A filamentous fungal host cell according to claim 9, which is an Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Fusarium, Chrysporum or Penicillium species. 14. An Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Chrysosporum or Penicillium host cell according to claim 13, which is an Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus terreus, or Trichoderma reesei, or Chrysosporum lucknowense, or Penicillium chrysogenum. 15. A method for producing a compound of interest and optionally purifying it by using the filamentous fungal host cell of claim 9, comprising: cultivating said filamentous fungal host cell in a nutrient medium suitable for production of the compound of interest; and recovering the compound of interest from the nutrient medium of the filamentous fungal host cell. 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the yield of the compound of interest produced by the filamentous fungal host cell of the invention comprising a given copy number of the nucleic acid construct is increased by at least 10% as compared to the production of the same compound of interest produced by the corresponding filamentous fungal host cell comprising the corresponding nucleic acid construct comprising the corresponding native nucleotide sequences, said corresponding nucleic acid construct being present in the same copy number in the corresponding filamentous fungal host cell. 17. A method according to claim 15, wherein production of the compound of interest in the filamentous fungal cell results in a production of 0.1 g per liter of the compound of interest. 18. A method for producing a nucleotide sequence comprising: producing a synonymous nucleotide coding sequence with optimized codon frequency as defined in claim 1, and optionally operably linking said synonymous nucleotide coding sequence to a control sequence. 19. A nucleotide sequence, according to claim 1, comprising a translational initiator sequence, said consensus translational initiator sequence is one selected from the following list: 5'-mwChkyCAAA-3' (SEQ ID NO: 17), 5'-mwChkyCACA-3' (SEQ ID NO:18), and 5'-mwChkyCAAG-3' (SEQ ID NO: 19).

Details for Patent 7,888,489

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132	06/04/1986		2025-01-24
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132			2025-01-24
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	Injection	103132			2025-01-24