Amplification and Expression of Heterologous Oncostatin M in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

ABSTRACT A stable Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line producing high levels of human oncostatin M (OM) was generated by transfecting a heterologous gene coding for the protein. This novel construct was comprised of the gene for the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) signal peptide fused to the gene for mature human OM. Amplification with methotrexate produced milligram quantities of this recombinant OM, which was processed correctly, glycosylated, and found to have biological functions similar to those of natural OM.