NCRIS – Recombinant Protein Production Facility (RPPF) - CSIRO

NCRIS – Recombinant
Protein Production Facility (RPPF)
CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering
One of the key challenges in turning
research and development to a
commercial reality is to produce
potentially valuable proteins in quantities
large enough to support pre-commercial
investigations and trials.
This new NCRIS RPPF Facility at CSIRO
will assist Australian Researchers to
overcome this challenge.
CSIRO can provide assistance with
optimisation, scale-up, production and
purification of recombinant proteins
in large quantities: from hundreds of
milligrams to kilograms.
The Facility
This Facility can accommodate
production and purification of proteins
using a wide range of expression systems
and host cells including mammalian, insect
and microbial cells.
GLP conditions can be employed to
facilitate seamless process and material
transfers to GMOs or to provide quality
material for animal trials.
The Facility is equipped with a wide
range of cell culture and fermentation
equipment including:
• over 30 stirred tank reactors, ranging
from 2 to 500L scale to allow rapid
optimisation and large-scale protein
production
This state-of-the-art facility is for academic and industry researchers and is part of the
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program.
> Researchers at the Recombinant Protein Production Facility
• roller bottle apparatus, spinner and
shaker flasks suitable for scale-up and
process development work
• single use bioreactors up to 25L
working volumes
• a wide variety of analytical equipment
to follow cell growth and metabolism
and characterise proteins
• downstream and purification
equipment suitable to process
large-scale batches of bacterial and
mammalian cell culture harvests.
The RPPF is supported by the expert
capabilities of various other molecular
and cell biology groups to allow cell line
development and protein chemistry for
rapid purification and characterisation of
proteins.
There is also a direct connection to the
Bio21-C3 crystallisation laboratories and
to the Australian Synchrotron to allow
structural studies.
Fragment based screening and proteinprotein
interaction studies are also
available to indentify suitable candidates
for further pharmaceutical research
programs.
Track record
We have a proven track record in
fermentation and downstream processing
of recombinant proteins, expressed in
eukaryotic and prokaryotic hosts, such
as mammalian, insect, yeast and bacterial
cells.
Recent projects have included the
production of:
• monoclonal antibodies
• receptor signalling and cytokine
proteins
• enzymes for industrial scale trials
• a wide range of bacterial and insect cell
proteins.

GEA Niro Soavi homogeniser for
large-scale cell lysis
NCRIS
NCRIS is part of the Australian
Government’s ‘Backing Australia’s
Ability’ initiative which provides
substantial funds to generate ideas,
accelerate commercialisation, encourage
collaboration, develop and retain skills.
This NCRIS component includes nodes
in the Australian Capital Territory, New
South Wales, Queensland, South Australia
the Victoria.
Collaboration and funding
The Australian Government, State
Government of Victoria, CSIRO and
Monash University have invested in this
Victorian node to help enhance Australia’s
capacity to produce recombinant proteins
in pre-commercial quantities.
The Victorian node is housed in a newly
refurbished, dedicated laboratory at
Monash University’s Centre for Green
Chemistry for protein purification and
purpose built pilot-scale fermentation
laboratories at CSIRO Materials Science
and Engineering, immediately adjacent
to Monash University and the Australian
Synchrotron.
For production of recombinant proteins
through the NCRIS program, researchers
and biotechnology companies can have
easy access to:
• CSIRO’s fermentation production
facility
• Monash University’s purification facility
• licensed contract manufacturing
organisations (CMOs) to produce
recombinant proteins under cGMP
conditions for clinical trials.
For further information:
Contact Science:
Dr George Lovrecz
Head of Fermentation Group
CSIRO
Phone: (03) 9662 7348
Email: george.lovrecz@csiro.au
Dr Geoff Dumsday
Research Group Leader – Biotransformation
CSIRO
Phone: (03) 9545 2344
Email: geoff.dumsday@csiro.au
Contact Business:
Dr Kirsty Reed
Business Development Manager
CSIRO
Phone: (03) 9545 2484
Email: kirsty.reed@csiro.au
Web:
www.csiro.au/places/Recombinant-
Protein-Facility.html